Effects of cis-9, trans-11 and trans-10, cis-12 conjugated linoleic acid supplementation on maternal reproductive parameters

Abstract

Summary Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a mixture of positional isomers of linoleic acid found in ruminant products and meat. The diet supplementing with CLA is an emerging area, requiring studies to elucidate its effects on animals and human reproduction, as well as its side effects. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of CLA gastric administration, during the pregestational and gestational period in biometric and reproductive parameters, as well as in ovarian morphophysiology. Animals were distributed in three groups: (1) control (n = 10); (2) fish oil (n = 10); and (3) CLA (n = 10), that daily received, by gavage, phosphate-buffered saline, fish oil and CLA, respectively, carried out over 50 days (before mating, mating and pregnancy). There was an increment in the nasoanal distance and Lee index of the CLA and fish oil-treated groups during the first weeks (P > 0.05). CLA administration did not affect the ovarian follicle mobilization (P > 0.05), the number of follicles (P > 0.05) and the integrated density of lipid content of oocytes included in antral follicles (P > 0.05). There was no effect of CLA administration on the litter weight (P > 0.05; F2 and F3), however, an increment (P < 0.05) in the number of pups per litter (F2) was observed. Overall, this study demonstrated the absence of side effects of the CLA gastric administration on mice reproductive performance and suggests that this treatment would transgenerationally enhance fertility in this species.

Gastric administration of Cis-9, trans-11 and trans-10, cis-12 conjugated linoleic during the pregestational and gestational periods does not influence the follicular endowment of the progeny

“…Abazarikia et al [43] state that the inclusion of CLA in oocyte maturation and in vitro embryo culture can affect the modulation of lipogenesis. The data in the current study corroborate those of Freitas et al [11], as supplementation of the maternal diet CLA, did not alter the lipid content of oocytes included in antral follicles.…”

“…The current study demonstrated that animals born to mothers supplemented with CLA did not show alterations in body weight and the obesity index, as previously reported for parental [11] and corroborating the literature [23]. Some studies evaluated weight gain in CLA-treated animals and reported similar findings.…”

“…Freitas et al [11] found no effect on mobilization and follicular morphology, similarly to the present study. Campos-Junior et al [16] state that several factors can act on these parameters: the inclusion of fat in the diet has been reported to increase follicle number and diameter [38, 39].…”

“…The fish oil administration was used as a positive control, once the structural and functional similarities [12] with the fatty acid CLA profile is well established, and also there is a report about its effects on ovulation rate, and litter size in mice [13]. Treatments were performed during 50 days (before mating, mating and pregnancy) [11]. These females were crossbred with 10 weeks old untreated males (1:2, male:female) with proven fertility for a period of 2 weeks.…”

“…The supplementation of diets and culture media with CLA is an emerging area of research, and studies are needed to elucidate its beneficial effects on reproductive parameters. Recently, we demonstrated that gastric administration of CLA during the pregestational and gestational periods did not affect ovarian follicle endowment and mobilization, or did it affect oocyte lipid accumulation, demonstrating that this supplement can be used to take advantage of the benefits described in the literature without detrimental effects on female reproductive healthy mice [11]. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of maternal gastric administration of CLA on the biometric parameters, ovarian morphophysiology and the fertility of the F1, F2 and F3 progeny in mice.…”