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Title: CONJUGATED LINOLEIC ACID DURING GESTATION AND LACTATION DOES NOT ALTER SOW PERFORMANCE OR BODY WEIGHT GAIN AND ADIPOSITY IN PROGENY.

Author
item Poulos, Sylvia
item AZAIN, MICHAEL - UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
item Hausman, Gary

Submitted to: Animal Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/21/2004
Publication Date: 7/15/2004
Citation: Poulos, S.P., Azain, M.J., Hausman, G.J. 2004. Conjugated linoleic acid during gestation and lactation does not alter sow performance or body weight gain and adiposity in progeny. Animal Research. 53. PP 275-288. 2004.

Interpretive Summary: Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a dietary supplement composed of a group of positional and geometric isomers of linoleic acid that favorably influence the quality and composition of pig carcasses. Most dietary CLA studies have focused on the growing phase but very few studies have focused on the gestation or lactation period. In this study we examined the potential influence of CLA fed to dams during gestation and lactation on growth and fat deposition in the offspring. Feeding CLA during gestation decreased heart weights of newborn pigs but CLA feeding during gestation and lactation had little influence on growth and body composition of growing and market weight pigs. Therefore, feeding CLA during gestation and lactation does not prove to be a practical means to reduce fat deposition in the offspring.

Technical Abstract: The objective of this study was to determine if there were any long-term effects of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in pigs exposed to CLA during fetal and neonatal growth. Sows were fed a diet containing corn and soybean meal with 0.83% soy oil (n=8) or a 0.5% CLA diet containing corn and soybean meal supplemented with 0.83% CLA-60, Conlinco (n=6) from either day 40 (group 1) or day 75 (group 2) of gestation through weaning on day 28. Two barrows and two gilts per litter were weaned onto a corn and soybean meal based diet until market weight. Within group 2, one male and one female piglet per litter were sacrificed within 24 hours of birth (day 0) and body and organ weights recorded and tissue samples were frozen. CLA did not alter body weight, backfat thickness or litter size and weight at birth (P>0.05). CLA resulted in significant decreases in newborn pig heart, kidney, and lung weights relative to their body weights (day 0). There was no difference in weight or weight gain post-weaning. CLA decreased total milk fat by 17% (P<0.01) and resulted in an increase in % saturated fatty acids and a decrease in % unsaturated fatty acids in milk from day 21 of lactation (P<0.05). Thus, there do not seem to be any long term effects on growth and body composition of market weight pigs given CLA through weaning that would be beneficial in a production scheme.