Effects of a n-3 PUFA enriched diet on embryo production in dairy cows

Sandrine Freret, Mouhamad Oseikria, Daniel Le Bourhis, Alice Desmarchais, Eric Briant, Olivier Desnoes, Mickaël Dupont, Laurene Le Berre, Olfa Ghazouani, Pricila Silvana Bertevello, Ana-Paula Teixeira-Gomes, Valérie Labas (+4 others)
2019 Reproduction  
Beneficial effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) supplementation on dairy cow reproduction have been previously reported. The objectives of the present study were to assess whether n-3 PUFA supplementation would affect in vitro embryo production (IVP) after ovarian stimulation. Holstein cows received a diet with 1% dry matter supplementation of either n-3 PUFA (n = 18, micro encapsulated fish oil) or a control, n-6 PUFA (n = 19, micro encapsulated soy oil). Both plasma and follicular
more » ... fluid FA composition showed integration of total PUFA through the diet. All cows underwent an IVP protocol consisting of ovarian stimulation, ultrasound-guided transvaginal oocyte retrieval (ovum pick-up, OPU, 5 per cow) followed by in vitro maturation, fertilisation and 7 days of embryo development. A tendency toward an increase in the blastocyst rate (diet effect, p = 0.0865) was observed in n-3 cows, with 49.6 ± 5.5%, versus 42.3 ± 5.5% in control n-6 cows. A significant increase (diet effect, p = 0.0217) in the good quality blastocyst rate (freezable blastocysts) was reported in n-3 cows (42.2 ± 7.7%) compared to control n-6 cows (32.7 ± 7.7%). A significant difference in lipid composition was shown in the oocytes recovered by OPU from n-3 and n-6 treated cows, by intact single-oocyte MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The 42 differentially abundant identified lipids were mainly involved in cell membrane structure. In conclusion, n-3 PUFA supplementation enhanced oocyte quality and modified their lipid composition. Further studies are necessary to investigate the potential link of these lipid modifications with enhanced oocyte quality.
doi:10.1530/rep-18-0644 pmid:31013477 fatcat:pnpdihitlzc55msc4hizm6jcvm