Effect of energy source fed to sows during late gestation on neonatal blood metabolite homeostasis, energy stores and composition.

Abstract

Four experiments utilizing 49 primiparous and 34 multiparous sows were conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding either starch, soybean oil or medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) during late gestation (d 100 to parturition) on neonatal fasting blood glucose homeostasis (Exp. 1 and 2), d-100 maternal circulating insulin, glucagon and glucose concentrations (Exp. 3 and 4), neonatal energy stores (Exp. 3 and 4) and colostrum composition (Exp. 1, 2, 3 and 4). In all cases, sows were fed 7.2 Mcal/d of a diet that supplied 279 g of protein daily. During fasting, pigs from MCT-fed dams had higher blood glucose concentrations (P less than .05) than pigs from starch-fed dams. No differences between treatments were observed for total carcass fat, liver glycogen or carcass glycogen of pigs killed prior to suckling. In general, colostrum fatty acid profiles were influenced by diet; however, the shifts in fatty acids differed for experiments. Starch-fed sows had higher blood insulin and lower blood glucagon (P less than .05) than lipid-supplemented sows; however, sow blood glucose remained constant across treatments. This study indicates that any positive effects of feeding soybean oil to sows during late gestation are most likely mediated by a change in fatty acid composition of colostrum; any beneficial properties of MCT feeding most likely are mediated through improved blood glucose maintenance of the neonate when it is subjected to fasting conditions.

Colostrum production in sows fed different sources of fiber and fat during late gestation

“…The increased fat content was also reflected in the increased DM content at 24 and 36 h in SOYO-fed sows. This is in line with previous studies, where colostrum and/or milk fat content of sows fed SOYO was greater than for sows fed iso-energetic amounts of medium-chain triglycerides (Newcomb et al 1991;Azain 1993;Jean and Chiang 1999). A lower digestibility of Low fiber content (CON), sugar beet pulp (SBP) and alfalfa meal (ALF).…”

“…Jean and Chiang (1999) and Azain (1993) found increased survival, especially of small piglets, from sows fed MCFA compared with SOYO diets. The underlying mechanism for this beneficial effect of dietary fat source on pig survival is not known but may involve piglet blood metabolite homeostasis and/or energy stores at birth (Newcomb et al 1991). Results from the current study do not suggest that the potential effect of MCFA on piglet survival reported by others is mediated directly by increased colostrum intake of piglets.…”

Neonatal piglet survival: impact of sow nutrition around parturition on fetal glycogen deposition and production and composition of colostrum and transient milk

“…Boyd et al (1978) fed gilts and older sows with a conventional diet until day 99 of gestation and then, from day 100 one of two isoenergetic diets containing either 20% tallow or 32% corn starch were fed until parturition without affecting glycogen deposition or piglet survival. Newcomb et al (1991) studied glycogen deposition in newborn piglets from sows fed one of three different diets from day 100 of gestation until parturition. The diets supplied equal amounts of energy and protein but differed in energy source (274 g wheat starch, 157 g soybean oil or 157 g medium-chain triglyceride/kg of diet).…”

Growth and development of offspring following supplementation of sow diets with oil during early to mid gestation

“…Oils in sow diets during early-to-mid gestation established; bearing in mind that supplementation was given during the first 60 days of gestation only, there are a number of ways in which the increased litter size may be explained: (i) the fatty acid profile of the diet may alter maternal endocrine status (Hornstra and Stegan, 1989), which in turn may affect embryonic survival and the efficiency of placental development; (ii) palm oil is a rich source of the anti-oxidants b-carotene and vitamin E (Duran, 2002;Edem, 2002) and increased intake of vitamin E has previously been linked to increased litter size in pigs (Mahan, 1991;Pinelli-Saavedra, 2003); (iii) palm oil supplementation may result in glucose sparing in the mother, allowing greater glucose availability for the placenta/foetuses as seen in humans and rats (Kim et al, 1995;Jaquier, 1998;Melanson et al, 1999); (iv) palmitic acid (16:0), primarily from the diet during the first half of gestation, but also from lipolysis of maternal adipose tissue during late pregnancy, may be converted into ketones and improve energy availability to the developing placenta/foetuses (Secombe et al, 1977;Shambaugh, 1985) resulting in better piglet metabolic status at birth (Newcomb et al, 1991;Azain, 1993); and (v) the fatty acids present in palm oil may be …”