Effects of vitamin E supplementation on sow gestation: a meta-analysis

Vitamin E is an antioxidant that plays a crucial function in the reproductive processes of pigs.

This study evaluated the reproductive efficacy of ɑ-tocopherol or vitamin E supplementation in pregnant sows.

Twenty-one articles from 1977 to 2021 were included in the database. There were eight parameters observed, such as concentration in the serum during gestation, colostrum concentration, number of piglets per litter at birth, number of stillborn piglets, number of piglets born alive, litter weight at birth, weight of each piglet at birth, and piglet serum concentration on day 1. The data were analyzed using the PROC MIXED procedure in SAS version 9.1.

Vitamin E administration in sows led to a statistically significant rise in the level of α-tocopherol in the serum of both sows during gestation and the serum of piglets on the first day after birth. The injection of vitamin E did not yield a statistically significant effect on the observed variables, including an increase in the number of pigs per litter at birth, stillborn piglets, pigs born alive, litter weight at birth, vitamin E levels in colostrum, dan the weight of piglets at delivery.

Vitamin E supplements are advisable for female pigs to increase the concentration of α-tocopherol in serum throughout pregnancy and enhance α-tocopherol levels in the serum of piglets on the first day after birth.