Mammary Lipid Metabolism and Milk Fatty Acid Secretion in Alpine Goats Fed Vegetable Lipids

Fourteen Alpine goats at midlactation were fed a diet of hay and concentrate (55:45), without (control) or with formaldehyde-treated linseed (FLS) or oleic sunflower oil (OSO) at 11.2 or 3.5% of dry matter intake, respectively, in a 3 x 3 Latin Square design with three 3-wk periods. Milk yield was lower in goats fed FLS than control or OSO (2.13 vs. 2.32 kg/d). Milk fat content was higher with FLS or OSO than control (40.8 vs. 33.8 g/kg). Formaldehyde-treated linseed and OSO caused a significant decrease (23 and 18%, respectively) of C10 to C17 fatty acids secretion compared with control. The secretion of cis-9 C18:1 and cis-9, trans-11 C18:2 were increased 1.44- and 1.54-fold for FLS and 1.78- and 1.36-fold for OSO, compared with control. The C18:3 (n-3) secretion was increased 2.61-fold with FLS compared with control. Milk cis-9 C14:1/C14:0, cis-9 C16:1/C16:0, and cis-9 C18:1/C18:0 ratios decreased with the supplemented diets compared with control. Mammary stearoyl-CoA desaturase mRNA and activity were decreased by the lipid supplements, whereas no significant change was observed for acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthase. The activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, malic enzyme, and glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase were not affected by the lipid supplements. Mammary lipoprotein lipase mRNA increased with OSO, whereas lipoprotein lipase activity tended to decrease with FLS compared with control. Milk lipoprotein lipase activity sharply decreased with lipid supplement (by 59 and 71%, for FLS and OSO, respectively). The changes in milk fatty acid profile due to FLS and OSO supplements were partly related to changes in the levels of mammary enzyme activities or mRNA.