Supplementation of palmitoleic acid improved piglet growth and reduced body temperature drop upon cold exposure

Piglet survival is a major challenge in the first few days postpartum and interventions during this period may improve survival and growth. This study investigated the effects of palmitoleic acid (C16:1n-7; PA) supplementation on growth performance, body temperature, fatty acid (FA), and energy metabolism in milk-replacer-fed piglets. Forty-eight piglets were stratified by body weight and randomly assigned to one of four dietary treatments (0%, 1%, 2%, and 3% PA supplementation as a percent of milk replacer) and given the diet through an orogastric tube. They were fed dietary treatments every 2 h for 4 d in the first week postpartum and all were sacrificed at the end of the experiment. The piglets were weighed daily, and half in each dietary treatment group, the same piglets each day, were exposed daily to a lower temperature for 2 h. Plasma samples were collected immediately before sacrifice for analyses of FA and other plasma metabolites. The weight of organs and empty body weight were determined after sacrifice. Liver and semimembranosus muscle tissue samples were collected and analyzed for FA content. Contents of C16:1n-7 and C18:1n-7 in both plasma and liver (P < 0.001), and C16:1n-7 in semimembranosus muscle (P < 0.001) increased linearly as PA supplementation increased. Most plasma FA levels (except C16:1n-7, C16:1n-9, and C22:5n-3) were lower in piglets exposed to lower temperatures than those that were not. Plasma glucose, triglycerides, and lactate dehydrogenase levels increased linearly with PA supplementation (P < 0.001). Piglets' average daily gain, liver glycogen pool, liver weight, and gallbladder weight increased linearly (P < 0.05, P < 0.01, P < 0.05, and P < 0.001, respectively), but lung weight, liver nitrogen content, and body temperature drop decreased linearly (P < 0.01, P < 0.001, and P < 0.05, respectively) with PA supplementation. Piglets exposed to low temperature had greater liver nitrogen (P < 0.05) and lactate dehydrogenase (P < 0.001) contents but had lower liver weight (P < 0.01) and plasma lactate concentration (P < 0.05) than those that were not. In conclusion, this study demonstrated the importance of PA on the growth performance of the piglets by increasing their average daily gain and decreasing a drop in body temperature upon cold exposure, most likely due to a modified energy metabolism.