A Maternal Two-meal Feeding Sequence with Varying Crude Protein Affects Milk Lipid Profile in A Sow-Piglet Model

Xin Wu,Yulong Yin,Tianzeng Gao,Xiaoyun Guo,Chunyan Xie,Cimin Long,Tianyong Zhang

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-14188-0

Abstract

The effects of a two-meal feeding sequence on production performance and milk lipid profile were investigated. Sixty pregnant sows (d 85 of gestation) were assigned to 3 groups: 2 C group (fed a control crude protein [CP] diet at 0600 and 1500 daily), LH group (fed a low CP diet and a high CP diet at 0600 and 1500), or HL group (fed a high CP diet and a low CP diet at 0600 and 1500). Reproductive performance of sows, and lipid profiles of plasma and milk were measured. Results showed that the HL feeding sequence dramatically increased average piglet weight/litter, average daily gain of piglet/litter, and milk production of sows. LH feeding sequence increased milk fat proportion, and HL feeding sequence significantly increased the proportion of milk MUFA on d 14 and 21 of lactation. Interestingly, the HL feeding sequence also reduced the ratio of C18:1cis/C18:1trans in milk, which may account for the greater milk production of sows and growth performance of piglets during lactation. These findings indicated that both the maternal two-meal feeding sequences with varying crude protein improved milk production and milk lipid profiles of sows, which might contribute to improving growth performance of piglets.

Highlights

In this study, swine models were chosen for their physiological and gastrointestinal similarities to humans
Based on the growth rates of piglets/litter, we found that the HL feeding sequence increased milk production per sow during d 14–21 (P = 0.049) and d 0–21 (P = 0.007) of lactation, whereas no significant difference was observed among the three groups in milk production during d 0–14 of lactation (P = 0.16) (Fig. 1)
Our results showed that the plasma lipid profiles of sows, especially on d 14 of lactation, was influenced by HL and LH feeding patterns, whereas the plasma triglyceride levels in sows did not show a significant difference among different groups

Summary

Introduction

Swine models were chosen for their physiological and gastrointestinal similarities to humans. Sows and neonatal piglets are more similar in size to human mothers and infants than other animal www.nature.com/scientificreports/. Item Total number of newborn piglets/litter Stillbirth number/litter Litter size at weaning Average piglet’s weight (kg)/litter Birth weight On d 14 On d 21 Average daily gain of piglets (kg)/litter d 0–14 d 14–21 d 0–21. Our previous study demonstrated that feeding a high protein meal in the morning and a gradually reduced CP content in meals during the day affected lipid metabolism in barrows[10]. This study investigated the effects of different feeding sequences on milk production, the lipid profiles of sows, and growth performance of their offspring. We hypothesised that the maternal HL two-meal sequence with varying CP would increase the growth performance of neonatal piglets through the mother-to-newborn transfer of milk

Methods

Results

Conclusion