Evaluation of Carnitine Status in Postnatal Piglets from Sows Fed Clofibrate

Milk carnitine content decreases quickly with lactation days and is accompanied by PPARα downregulation. This study aimed to investigate the effects of the maternal supplementation of the PPARα agonist, clofibrate, on milk carnitine content and carnitine status in neonates during lactation. Pregnant sows (n = 27) were fed diets containing either 0, 0.25, or 0.5% clofibrate from d107 gestation to d7 of lactation. Carnitines were determined in milk on d1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, and 19 post farrowing and in the plasma, intestine, and liver of piglets on d1, 7, 14, and 19. Milk carnitine decreased quadratically with lactation days (p < 0.0001). Hepatic and intestinal carnitines increased with postnatal age (p < 0.05). Correlations between levels were detected between milk and plasma (R² = 0.5, p < 0.0001) and milk and intestine (R² = 0.23; p < 0.05). Clofibrate increased BBH expression (p < 0.05) and tended to increase OCTN2 expression (p = 0.055) in intestine and TMLH in liver (p = 0.059). Hepatic ALD and TMLH increased (p < 0.0005) with postnatal age. However, gene modification had no effect on plasma and mucosa carnitine concentrations. We conclude that changes in carnitines within plasma and mucosa are mostly driven by milk carnitines during postnatal development.