Table 3.

Effects of dietary functional fatty acids on reproductive performance of livestock

Livestock	Oil source	Stage of pregnancy	Main findings and potential mechanism	Reference
Sows	Butyrate	Late pregnancy	Shorten the weaning-to-estrus interval	[176]
Sows	Butyrate	Pregnancy and lactation	Reduced the rate of gilts return to estrus, alter the composition of colostrum and enhance the growth rate of piglets	[177]
Ewes	Oleic	Late gestation	Increased PGE2 production in both endometrium and fetal allantochorion cells and increasing the ratio of PGE2 to PGF2α in endometrium cells	[178]
Sows	Conjugated linoleic acid	Late pregnancy and lactation	Reduced backfat thickness loss during the lactation period and leading to higher piglet weight at weaning	[179]
Ewes	Linoleic acid	Late pregnancy	Enhanced placental PG production by increased the supply of 20:4n-6	[180]
Cows	Conjugated linoleic acid	Period started 21 d pre-calving and continued until 60 d in milk	Increased conception rate and serum concentrations of glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), insulin, insulin-like growth factor-1(IGF-1), estradiol and progesterone were higher	[181]
Cows	α-linolenic acid	55 ± 22 d postpartum	Increased the size of the ovulatory follicle and reduced pregnancy losses	[182]
Cows	α-linolenic acid	21 d before expected calving	Decreased incidence of ketosis and severe metritis, reduced mortality, and tending to enhance fertility performance	[183]
Sows	Linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid	Pregnancy	Rapid return to estrus, increased maintenance of pregnancy and improved subsequent litter size	[184]
Cows	DHA	From 27 to 147 d postpartum	Enhanced embryo development based on changes in interferon-stimulated gene expression	[185]
Sows	Fish oil	60 d before parturition to weaning	Increased subsequent litter and litter size	[19]
Sows	Marine algae	Five days prior parturition to breeding	Increased subsequent litter and litter size	[186]