The Effect of Different Sources of Unsaturated Fatty Acids on the Expression of IL-1β and TNFα Genes and Blood Factors in Sangesari Lambs Vaccinated against Foot and Mouth Disease

Abstract

We studied the effect of palmitic acid sources or n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the diet on the pro-inflammatory cytokine expression and the risk of ketosis in lambs received vaccination for foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus. We used 15 Sangsari male lambs with an aged 6 ± 1 month and an average weight of 42 ± 1 kg allocated randomly to three treatments: (1) PalOil group receiving a diet of calcium soap of palm oil fatty acid (FA) to receive palmitic acid (16:0), (2) SunOil group receiving a diet containing calcium soap of sunflower oil FAs to receive linoleic acid (n-6 18:2) and (3) LinOil group receiving a diet containing calcium soap of linseed oil FA to receive α-linolenic acid (n-3 18:3). The lambs received the iso-nitrogenous and iso-caloric diet for 28 days: an adaptation period of 21 days and a sampling period of 7 days. The lambs were separately housed and could drink water. The interleukin-1β (IL-1β) mRNA expression was lower in the LinOil groups than in the PalOil and SunOil groups (P < 0.05). Also, the tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) mRNA expression showed an increase in the PalOil group than in the SunOil and LinOil groups, and the lowest expression of TNFα mRNA was found in the LinOil group (P < 0.05). Higher glucose blood level (P < 0.05) was measured in the PalOil group than in lambs on SunOil and LinOil diets. No significant differences were observed between treatments in BHBA and cortisol blood levels (P > 0.05). Feeding an α-linolenic acid diet to lambs after vaccination against FMD improved glucose uptake, decreased the risk of ketosis, and inhibited the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNFα and IL-1).