Dietary 25 Hydroxyvitamin D3 Improved Serum Concentration Level and Alkaline Phosphatase Activity during Lactation but Had Meager Impact on Post-Farrowing Reproductive Performance in Sows

Prester C John Okafor; Nitipong Homwong

doi:10.3390/ani14030419

Dietary 25 Hydroxyvitamin D3 Improved Serum Concentration Level and Alkaline Phosphatase Activity during Lactation but Had Meager Impact on Post-Farrowing Reproductive Performance in Sows

Animals (Basel). 2024 Jan 27;14(3):419. doi: 10.3390/ani14030419.

Authors

Prester C John Okafor¹, Nitipong Homwong^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Swine Science, Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture at Kamphaeng Saen, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Nakhon Pathom 73140, Thailand.
² National Swine Research and Training Center, Faculty of Agriculture at Kamphaeng Saen, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Nakhon Pathom 73140, Thailand.

Abstract

Dietary 25 hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3) promotes serum 25(OH)D3 concentration and alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP); however, post-farrowing reproductive performance of lactating sows fed with 14-epimer of 25(OH)D3 is uncertain. This study investigated post-farrowing reproductive performance, serum ALP activity, and serum 25(OH)D3 concentration in sows fed VD3, 25(OH)D3, or 14-epi 25(OH)D3. Weaned sows (n = 203) in parities 2 and 3 were blocked weekly and treated with 2000 IU/kg VD3 (T1), 25 μg/kg 25(OH)D3:14-epi 25(OH)D3 (T2), or 50 μg/kg 25(OH)D3 (T3) diets, all equilibrated to 2000 IU/kg as fed. Sow performance, treatment, and sampling period effects were analyzed. Environmental conditions were analyzed as covariates. The number of piglets weaned (p = 0.029), pre-weaning mortality (p = 0.029), sampling period (p < 0.001), and treatment and period interaction (p = 0.028) differed significantly. There was an increase in 25(OH)D3 during lactation due to physiological demands for milk calcium and milk production. Supplementing twice the concentration of 25(OH)D3 compared to its epimer, 25(OH)D3:14-epi 25(OH)D3, had no significant effect on the post-farrowing reproductive performance of lactating sows. The effect of 25(OH)D3 on post-farrowing reproductive performance and ALP activity in sows was influenced by metabolic demand for calcium due to physiological changes during lactation as well as epimer conformation.

Keywords: 25-hydroxyvitamin D3; alkaline phosphatase; epimers; lactation; performance; post-farrowing; reproduction; sow; vitamin D3.

Grants and funding

This research was made possible with financial support from the following establishments: Huvepharma Co-Project, Kasetsart University Graduate Scholarship Program, National Swine Research and Training Center, Kasetsart University and Thai Orchids Laboratories.