Effect of fish oil supplementation in sow diet during late gestation and lactation period on litter characteristics, milk composition and fatty acid profile of sows and their offspring

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of supplementing the sow diet with fish oil on litter characteristics, fatty acid composition and desaturase expression of sows and their progeny. Sixteen second-parity sows were allocated equally into two groups. Sows were fed either the soybean oil diet (SD) or soybean oil + fish oil diet (FD) during the late gestation and lactation periods. Fatty acid composition was evaluated in the red blood cell (RBC) of sows, full-term placenta, RBC of cord blood, milk and livers of piglets. The expression of fatty acid desaturases mRNA was measured in placenta and livers of piglets. The proportion of 20:5n-3 (p < .001) in placenta and RBC of cord blood increased in the FD group. The proportion of 22:5n-3 (p < .01) decreased in placenta and cord blood and the fatty acid desaturases gene 1 (FADS1) mRNA expression (p < .05) in placenta decreased in the FD group. The proportion of 22:6n-3 in the RBC of piglets reduced from birth to day 16 in both groups, while the proportion of 22:6n-3 in the livers of piglets continuously increased during the same time period in both groups. These results indicate that fish oil supplementation during late gestation and lactation alters the n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LC-PUFA) composition in the RBC and livers of piglets. The decrease of the 22:5n-3 and the increase of the 22:6n-3 in placenta might be related to the regulation of n-3 LC-PUFA metabolism at the 22:5n-3 formation step.Highlights Fish oil supplementation in maternal diet alters n-3 LC-PUFA composition in progeny. Fish oil might regulate n-3 LC-PUFA metabolism in placenta.

Keywords

• sows
• n-3 long-chain fatty acids
• cord blood
• placenta
• fatty acid desaturases gene