Reproductive failure has been the subject of a wide spectrum of studies related meanly to livestock production as well as to human health fields. Some of these studies have been addressed to resolve problems associated to infertility, more specifically, during first days of pregnancy/early stage of pregnancy. However, despite of the efforts to maintain outstanding reproductive performance, the reproductive failures are still considerable. This reproductive failure is related to a failure in maternal-embryo communication during early stage of pregnancy. In fact, 25 to 55% and 40 to 55% of embryonic losses -in sheep herds and cattle, respectively - occur during the early stage of pregnancy. In this sense, nutritional factor is one of the most important issues involved in the reproductive efficiency. The strategic use of nutraceutical products (nutrient with therapeutic effect) is considered as an alternative tool for resolving the reproductive failures during early stage of pregnancy. In this sense, the use of polyunsaturated fatty acids like omega-3 (PUFASn-3) has a positive effect on human and animal health (involving numerous biological process such as vision, growth, brain development, and reproduction). Nevertheless, their effect on fertility -specifically during early stage of pregnancy- have been controversial and non-conclusive, justifying the necessity to perform further studies.
Linseed oil is considered an important botanical source of PUFASn-3 used in animal feeding. Thus, its effect on fertility indexes in livestock species would has positive impact on livestock. In addition, its implementation guarantee/enhance the animal welfare, due to that it contributes to diminish the dependence of chemical products (e.g. hormones) commonly used intensive reproductive management. In consequence, it would reduce the residues in body tissues and contribute to offer healthy products (e.g. milk and meat) for human consumption impacting positively on public health and reducing health care cost.
Considering the above mentioned, the aim of the present project was evaluating the mechanism that exert the dietary supplementation of by-pass linseed oil during embryo-maternal recognition of pregnancy using ovine species a mammal model. In this study, linseed oil effect was evaluated at embryonic and maternal levels (individually) as well as on embryo-maternal cross-talk/relationships.
