Article

Effect of Low and High Amounts of Linseed Oil or Saturated Fatty Acids Preceding Insemination on the Reproductive Indices, Plasma Profile of Fatty Acids, and Blood Metabolites of Fat-tailed Ewes Outside the Breeding Season

Hamed Esmaili1, Mohsen Eslami1,*, Hamed Khalilvandi-Behrozyar2, Farhad Farrokhi-Ardabili2
Author Information & Copyright
1Department of Theriogenology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran, Urmia 5756151818, Iran, Islamic Republic of.
2Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran, Urmia 5756151818, Iran, Islamic Republic of.
*Corresponding Author: Mohsen Eslami, Department of Theriogenology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran, Urmia 5756151818, Iran, Islamic Republic of. E-mail: m.eslami@urmia.ac.ir.

© Copyright 2022 Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

The current study was designed to evaluate the effect of sequential low and high dietary linseed oil (LO; as omega-3 enriched fatty acid; FA) prior and post insemination, respectively, on different plasma variables of ewes. Fat-tailed Qezel ewes were assigned randomly to be fed a diet enriched with 3% LO (n=30) or the saturated FA (SFA; n=30) three weeks before insemination (Day 0). The lipogenic diet supplemented with 6% LO or SFA was fed after insemination until Day +21. The control ewes fed an isocaloric and isonitrogenous diet with no additional FA during the study. Estrus was synchronized by inserting a vaginal sponge (Spongavet®, HIPRA, Spain) for 12 days + 500 IU eCG (Gonaser®, HIPRA, Spain) and ewes were inseminated via laparoscopic approach 56-59 h after eCG injection. The size of ovarian structures was assessed by transvaginal ultrasonography at -21, -14, -2, 0, and +10 days. Blood samples were collected every week to measure the different biochemical variables and FA profile of the plasma. Treatment did not affect on the amounts of glucose, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, interleukin-10, interleukin-2, and non-esterified FA (P &gt; 0.05). Whereas, concentrations of triglyceride, cholesterol, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and insulin like growth factor-1 were higher in SFA fed ewes relative to control animals (P &lt; 0.05). LO feeding resulted in greater amounts of <italic>n</italic>-3 FA isomers in plasma, while higher amounts of stearic acid was detected in SFA fed group 0 and +21 (P &lt; 0.05). The number of ovarian follicles and corpora lutea also were not affected by treatment. Except the reproductive rate, other reproductive variables were not affected by treatment. It seems that LO or SFA feeding of fat-tailed ewes peri-insemination period was not superior relative to isocaloric non-additional fat diet provided for the control group during the non-breeding season.

Keywords: Linseed oil; Saturated FA; Laparoscopic insemination; Ewe; Reproduction