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Nutrient Requirements

Lactating Sows and Suckling Piglets Preferentially Incorporate RRR- over All-rac--Tocopherol into Milk, Plasma and Tissues¹

Charlotte Lauridsen^*2, Harold Engel, Søren K. Jensen^*, A. Morrie Craig and Maret G. Traber^**

^* Department of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Research Centre Foulum, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark; School of Veterinary Medicine, Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 97331; and the ^** Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA 95817

²To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: charlotte.lauridsen{at}agrsci.dk.

Synthetic vitamin E, all-rac--tocopherol, contains eight different stereoisomers, only one of which, RRR--tocopherol, occurs naturally. The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the relative abilities of these two vitamin E forms to enrich piglet tissues when fed as -tocopheryl acetates to sows during pregnancy and lactation. -Tocopherol delivery to fetuses and to suckling piglets was monitored by feeding 150 mg each of d₃-RRR-- and d₆-all-rac--tocopheryl acetate to three pregnant sows daily from 7 d before to 7 d after giving birth. Labeled and unlabeled vitamin E concentration ratios were measured in sow plasma and milk, and in piglet (n = 9) plasma and tissues at birth, 7 and 21 d. At birth, despite elevated sow plasma deuterated -tocopherol concentrations, no labeled -tocopherol was detected in piglet plasma or tissues. Sow plasma and milk d₃-- to d₆--tocopherol concentrations were 2:1, leading to a 2:1 ratio in suckling piglet plasma and tissues. In piglets at d 7 compared with birth, most tissues contained a 10-fold increase in total -tocopherol; the highest deuterated vitamin E concentrations were in the liver, followed by the lung, heart, kidney, muscle, intestine and brain. In conclusion, pigs discriminate between RRR- and all-rac--tocopherol with a preference for RRR--tocopherol; thus, the official bioequivalence ratio of 1.36:1 RRR- to all-rac--tocopherol is underestimated. After initiation of suckling, piglet plasma and tissues demonstrated a dramatic increase in vitamin E concentrations, emphasizing the limited placental vitamin E transfer and the importance of milk for enhancing the vitamin E status of the newborn.

KEY WORDS: • stable isotopes • bioactivity • -tocotrienol • -tocopherol • -tocotrienol • pigs

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