Abstract
This study evaluated the presence of polyunsaturated fatty acids in circulating blood and in the ovarian follicular fluid of mares, after supplementation of the diet with linseed oil. Six Mangalarga Marchador mares, weighing 397.00±31.89 kg, were kept on native pasture, and assigned to the current study. In a switch over design, mares were randomly allocated to receive 150 ml of vegetable oil daily, containing polyunsaturated fatty acids n3 (62.23 g ALA, 20.34 g LA, 2.27 g EPA, 2.32 g DHA), (n=3) or no supplementation (n=3) in two replicates. Blood and follicular fluid samples were taken on the first day (D0) and every 30 days until the end of the supplementation period (D60). After 60 days of supplementation, mares were switched across the treatments. Plasma concentrations of linolenic acid in total fatty acids were higher (P=0.006) in the supplemented compared to the control group (1.89±0.13 vs. 1.49±0.13%). There were positive correlations between plasma linoleic acid and follicular fluid arachidonic acid (P=0.0106; r2=0.13) and between plasma alpha linolenic acid and follicular fluid EPA (P=0.0004; r2=0.2544). Data indicated a low to moderate relationship between the dietary linseed-based oil supplementation studied and circulating and follicular fluid polyunsaturated fatty acids contents in mares.
Highlights
A good nutritional balance must be applied in order to maintain adequate reproduction efficiency, especially for mares during the reproductive season (Soncin et al 2009).If nutrition is inadequate, often times, poor follicular development is found in mares which, as a consequence, do not ovulate normally or have deficient corpora lutea, leading, in turn, to early embryonic losses or underdeveloped fetuses (Shepherd et al 2012)
Omega 3 and 6 supplementation increased the concentration of linolenic acid in the plasma (P=0.006)
Plasma linolenic acid (LNA) increased while mare were suplemmented between 30 and 60 days (P=0.0001), no interaction was observed between these variables (Table II)
Summary
A good nutritional balance must be applied in order to maintain adequate reproduction efficiency, especially for mares during the reproductive season (Soncin et al 2009).If nutrition is inadequate, often times, poor follicular development is found in mares which, as a consequence, do not ovulate normally or have deficient corpora lutea, leading, in turn, to early embryonic losses or underdeveloped fetuses (Shepherd et al 2012). A good nutritional balance must be applied in order to maintain adequate reproduction efficiency, especially for mares during the reproductive season (Soncin et al 2009). Studies have shown that diets rich in starch may result in decreased in the sensibility to insulin (insulin resistance), resulting in disruption of the hypothalmic-hypofhyseal ovariam axis compromising mare fertility (Jacobs et al 2015). In this sense, some studies have been carried out with supplementation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) of breeding mares (Dinnetz et al 2013, Jacobs et al 2018), in order to improve reproduction. Equines respond quickly to dietary EPA supplementation, with a significant
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