Temporal fluctuations of C 16 and C 18 fatty acids in dromedary camels during the transition period

Authors: AHMADPOUR, AMIR - Utah State University; ZARRIN, MOUSA - University Of Bern; Christensen, Rachael; FARJAD, FARJOOD - Utah State University; AHMADPOUR, AHMADALI - Utah State University

Submitted to: Tropical Animal Health and Production
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/28/2019
Publication Date: 3/12/2019
Citation: Ahmadpour, A., Zarrin, M., Christensen, R., Farjad, F., Ahmadpour, A. 2019. Temporal fluctuations of C 16 and C 18 fatty acids in dromedary camels during the transition period. Tropical Animal Health and Production. 51(6):1651–1660. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-019-01860-y.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-019-01860-y

Interpretive Summary: Much is understood regarding how fatty acids, specifically palmitic (C16) and stearic (C18) change during the period surrounding calving in cattle, and these fatty acids are known to affect the overall health and well being of cattle, as well as how effective the immune system is during this time. However, little is known regarding the changes of these fats in camels that are near calving and afterwards. We studied the changes of these fatty acids in the liver of pregnant dromedary camels before and after parturition. Liver biopsy samples were taken at regular intervals, and the fatty acid concentrations evaluated and changes in time statistically analyzed to determine if the changes were significant at different time points. The relative concentration, or fold change is reported, and determined that these changes over time are unique to camels, and warrant further investigation to determine the effects to overall health and well being of this important desert animal.

Technical Abstract: Based on current knowledge, C16 and C18 fatty acids (FA) are considered the most functional FA in hepatic metabolism. Although these FAs ha-.e been satisfyingly in-.estigated in cattle, other species such as camel ha-.e been neglected. For this reason, the current study was designed to scrutinize changing patterns of C16 and C18 FAs in 10 dromedary camels from the last 2 months of gestation to the first months of lactation . Camels were grazed on natural pasture and supplemented with a balanced ration. Li-.er biopsies were obtained through blind biopsy technique at about 60, 45, 30, and 15-day antepartum (AP), and at 3, 15, 30, 45, and 60 post-partum (PP). Data were analyzed by the ANOVA procedure of SPSS with repeated measurements. From 15-day AP, saturated FA content of the li-.er declined (P'<'0.01) and 15-day PP reached its peak (P'='0.02). At 30-day PP it went down (P'<'0.01), and re­ elevated at 45-day PP (P'<'0.01) but remained at a steady state for the duration of the study. Mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated FA content of hepatic tissue were constant throughout AP, albeit obser-.ed to peak at 15-day AP compared with 45 (P'='0.04) and 30-day AP (P'<'0.01) for mono-unsaturated FAs, and with 60-, 45-, and 30-day AP (P'='0.01) for polyunsaturated FAs. The palmitic acid content of the li-.er reached a nadir at 30-day AP (P'<'0.01), increased sharply (P'<'0.01) at the next sampling time-point, and had a trend to escalate until 3-day PP. Palmitoleic acid le-.els were unchanged from 60- to 30-day AP, decreased at 15 AP and 3- day PP, increased at 15-day PP, then remained constant until the end of the study period (P'='0.04). Stearic acid content started to grow at 15-day AP and reached its peak at 15-day PP (P'<'0.01). At 30-day PP, stearic le-.el in li-.er dropped abruptly (P'<'0.01), then intensified at 45-day PP and did not change after; hepatic content of stearic acid was lower during AP compared with PP time­ points. Other C18 FAs changed significantly during the study period. These results suggest that parturition could ha-.e a profound effect on FA composition and other metabolites in camel li-.er. Further research is required to establish the metabolic mechanism behind these changes.