Maternal dietary fat affects the LT muscle fatty acid composition of progeny at weaning and finishing stages in pigs

The present study was conducted to investigate whether maternal dietary fat affects the fatty acid composition of the longissimus thoracis (LT) muscle in offspring pigs at weaning and finishing stages. Fourteen sows were randomly assigned to a control or a high fat (HF) group. The HF sows received a diet containing 8% corn oil starting seven days before farrowing until weaning. The results showed that a high-fat diet significantly increased the contents of serum-lipid-related indexes in the sows. Although the triglyceride content did not change, the C18:2n − 6 content was higher in the colostrum and in the LT muscle of offspring pigs at both investigated stages. The total n − 6 content and the n − 6/n − 3 ratio generally increased. This study demonstrated that maternal dietary fat during lactation affects the fatty acid composition of the LT muscle of progeny at weaning, and can have persistent effects in later life.