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Nutritional Immunology

Dietary Conjugated Linoleic Acid Positively Affects Immunologic Variables in Lactating Sows and Piglets^1,2

Department of Veterinary Sciences and Technologies for Food Safety and ^* Istituto di Zootecnia Generale, Facoltà di Agraria, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy

³To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: valentino.bontempo{at}unimi.it.

We studied the effects of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on metabolic and immunologic variables in lactating sows and piglets. Gestating sows (n = 16) were assigned to 1 of 2 weight- and parity-matched groups supplemented with 0% (C) or 0.5% (T) of a CLA preparation containing 50% CLA isomers. Supplementation started in late pregnancy and continued throughout lactation. At weaning, 80 piglets, half from each group of sows, were assigned to 0% CLA (C) or 0.5% CLA (T). Thus, there were four groups of 20 piglets: C-C, C-T, T-T, and T-C. Body weight and the number of piglets per litter at birth and weaning, and the chemical composition of colostrum did not differ among the groups. CLA affected the fatty acid composition of colostrum fat; palmitoleic and -linolenic acid were significantly lower compared with controls, whereas eicosenoic and eicosatrienoic acids were significantly higher. Feeding CLA increased (P < 0.05) colostrum IgG in sows. Sows fed CLA had higher (P < 0.05) serum leptin, IgG, and lysozyme. Nursing piglets from CLA-fed sows had significantly higher (P < 0.01) serum lysozyme and IgG. Consumption of CLA did not affect postweaning growth. Postweaning piglets fed CLA (T-T, C-T) had a higher IgG titer at 25 d (P < 0.05) and 35 d (P < 0.01) after weaning. Serum lysozyme was also higher at 25 d (P < 0.05) in CLA-fed piglets (T-T, C-T). At 35 d, serum -1 acylglicoprotein was lower (P < 0.05) in piglets fed CLA. Dietary CLA had a positive effect on immunologic variables in lactating sows and piglets.

KEY WORDS: • conjugated linoleic acid • immune response • sows • piglets

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. E. Bauman, J. W. Perfield II, K. J. Harvatine, and L. H. Baumgard Regulation of Fat Synthesis by Conjugated Linoleic Acid: Lactation and the Ruminant Model J. Nutr., February 1, 2008; 138(2): 403 - 409. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]