Effects Of Maternal Fish Oil And Olive Oil Supplementation On Production Performance, Oxidative Stress And Cytokines In Sows And Piglets

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of fish oil (FO) and olive oil (00) supplementation in late pregnancy and during lactation on productive performances, plasma fatty acid profile, oxidative stress and inflammation in sows and their piglets. A total of 24 sows (50%Large White×50%Landrace), with the same parity, were assigned into three diets with 8 replicates of one sow in each group. Sows in the trail groups were fed diets with additional supplementation of fish oil and olive oil (2% and 5% during late pregnancy and lactation, respectively) from day 84 of gestation to day 21 post-farrowing. Corn starch was added to control (CON) diet to equal dietary energy.The results were as followsReproduction performance:Piglets from OO-fed sows had a higher birth weight compared with the other two groups (P< 0.05). In addition, the pre-weaning mortality of piglets in the OO group was lower than in the FO group (P< 0.05). However, compared with sows in the CON and FO groups, sows in the OO group tended to have a lower backfat thickness gain during late gestation (P< 0.05). A lower average daily feed intake (ADFI) was observed in OO group than in CON and FO groups during lactation (P< 0.05). For piglets during lactation, with no differences of litter weight gain and average daily gain (ADG) were observed between three groups.Colostrum and milk composition as well as fatty acid composition:In comparison with sows offered an FO diet, sows offered an OO diet had a significantly elevated fat content in colostrum (P< 0.05). Furthermore, sows fed an OO diet had a higher milk fat content than CON-fed and FO-fed sows (P< 0.05).Dietary OO supplementation significantly increased the concentration of C18:ln-9 in colostrum and milk compared with CON and FO diets (P< 0.05). As expected, dietary FO supplementation markedly increased the proportion of C18:3n-3, C20:5n-3, C22:5n-3, C22:6n-3 and total n-3PUFA in colostrum and milk compared with CON and 00 diets (P< 0.01). The proportion of C20:4n-6 in colostrum and milk in the FO group were lower than in the CON group (P< 0.05).Piglets from sows fed an OO diet had greater C18:ln-9 and total MUFA levels in their plasma than piglets from sows fed CON and FO diets (P< 0.01). Compared with sows fed CON and 00 diets, FO significantly decreased the proportion of C18:2n-6, C20:4n-6 and total n-6PUFA in piglet plasma (P< 0.01), but increased the proportion of C20:5n-3, C22:5n-3, C22:6n-3 and total n-3PUFA in piglet plasma (P< 0.01).Oxidative and anti-oxidative indicators:In comparison with CON-fed sows, sows fed an FO diet had a higher plasma MDA concentration at parturition, as well as at days 10 and 21 of lactation. Furthermore, the FO group exhibited an increased plasma MDA concentration compared with the 00 group at days 10 and 21 of lactation (P< 0.05). In addition, decreased levels of plasma a-tocopherol at day 21 of lactation were observed in the CON group compared with the 00 group (P< 0.05).Sows fed an FO diet tended to have a higher MDA concentration in colostrum and milk compared with sows offered CON and 00 diets (P< 0.05). However, in comparison with CON-fed and OO-fed sows, FO-fed sows had a higher T-AOC in colostrum and milk (P< 0.05). Likewise, the activities of GSH-Px and T-SOD in milk (at day 10 of lactation) were higher in the FO group than in the OO group (P< 0.05).Piglets from sows with an FO supplemented diet showed higher plasma MDA concentration than piglets from sows fed with CON and 00 diets at days 10 and 21 of lactation (P< 0.05). Nevertheless, piglets from FO-fed sows had a higher plasma T-AOC than piglets from OO-fed sows at day 21 of lactation (P< 0.05). Moreover, piglets from sows offered FO diet received a higher GSH-Px activity compared with piglets from sows offered CON and 00 diets at days 10 and 21 of lactation (P< 0.05). Likewise, higher plasma T-SOD activity was seen in piglets from the FO group than in CON and 00 groups at day 21 of lactation (P< 0.05).Cytokine concentrations:A lower colostrum IL-1β concentration was observed in the 00 group than in the FO group (P< 0.05). Furthermore, milk from sows in the 00 group tended to have a significant reduction in IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-a concentrations compared with milk from the other groups (P< 0.05). Similarly, piglets from OO-fed sows had a lower plasma IL-1βncentration at day 21 of lactation compared with piglets from CON-fed and FO-fed sows (P<0.05), and there was a lower plasma TNF-a concentration in piglets from the OO group than in piglets from the CON group (P< 0.05).Conclusion:1. Feeding OO to sows significantly increased piglet birth weight and decreased the pre-weaning mortality of piglets, but sows fed OO-diet had a lower ADFI.2. Dietary supplementation with OO to sows significantly elevated fat content in colostrum and milk. Furthermore, the fatty acid composition in milk and piglet plasma was in accordance with the fatty acid profile of maternal diet.3. Feeding FO to sows significantly increased lipid peroxidation in the plasma of sows and its progeny. Nevertheless, dietary supplementation with OO to sows markedly decreased the cytokine concentration in milk and piglet plasma.