Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jan 4:103:skaf269.
doi: 10.1093/jas/skaf269.

Salmate DHA+ fish oil supplement fed to boars and impact on sperm production

John J Parrish  1 , Tom J Gall  2 , Mark E Wilson  2 , Mike A Parsley  2 , Mark R M Ballard  2
Affiliations

Salmate DHA+ fish oil supplement fed to boars and impact on sperm production

John J Parrish et al. J Anim Sci. .

Abstract

Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation can increase sperm production in boars, but the mechanism has not been demonstrated. The current study was to determine if the increase in sperm production was due to a reduction in germ cell apoptosis during spermatogenesis. Duroc boars (438-686 d of age) were fed either a control diet of corn, soybean meal, 5% fiber, plus vitamins and minerals per NRC requirements or the control diet plus a proprietary blend of fish oil, Salmate DHA+ supplemented diet with 1.83 g DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid, C22:6) and 0.78 g EPA (Eicosatetraenoic acid, c20:5) omega-3 fatty acids from 26 g Salmate DHA+ (The Ballard Group, Inc. and Feedworks USA, Ltd.) per day per head added to the control diet. The control diet was fed to all boars (n = 10) for 62 d, and then Salmate DHA+ was added to the diet of 5 of the boars while the other 5 continued the control diet for another 62 d. At the end of the experiment, all boars were harvested, the testes collected, fixed with Karnovsky's fixative, postfixed with 70% ethanol, embedded with acrylic resin, 2-micron sections taken, and sections stained with Toluidine Blue. During the study, boars were on routine semen collection. Semen data were evaluated for all boars on the first 62 d of the control diet (before period) and then for control and Salmate DHA+ boars from days 22 to 62 after Salmate DHA+ feeding started (after period). A total of 107 ejaculates were evaluated in the study. The control boars' total sperm per ejaculate (×109) was 105.7 ± 7.3 vs. 110.9 ± 10.4 in the before vs. after period (p > 0.05). The Salmate DHA+ boars' total sperm per ejaculate (×109) was 103.4 ± 5 vs. 122.8 ± 7 in the before vs. after period (1.18-fold increase, P < 0.05). To examine apoptosis via histology, the number of round spermatids (RS) and Sertoli cells (SC) were counted in 10 stage 1 seminiferous tubules for each boar with adjustments made for cell nucleoli or nuclei size and thickness of the histology section. The ratio of RS/SC or Sertoli Cell Index was then determined to estimate how many RS survived apoptosis in spermatogenesis. The Sertoli Cell index was 9.46 ± 0.84 vs. 15.03 ± 0.97, respectively, for Control and Salmate DHA+ boars (P < 0.01). The number of RS/SC increased 1.59-fold due to Salmate DHA+ treatment and demonstrates a reduction in apoptosis. The increased number of RS may explain the increased sperm per ejaculate after Salmate DHA+ treatment.

Keywords: apoptosis; fish oil; pigs; spermatogenesis.

Plain language summary

Sperm production in a male occurs in the testes in the process of spermatogenesis. In the boar, division of the stem cell progenitor can give rise to up to 256 sperm. However, normally between 70% and 90% of the cells are lost due to degeneration in the process known as apoptosis. Fish oil supplementation in humans, mice, and boars has shown that sperm production can be increased. The mechanism remains to be determined. This work was undertaken to determine if the normal apoptosis of spermatogenesis can be inhibited by fish oil supplementation. The fish oil supplement, Salmate DHA+, was fed to boars and the results were compared to boars fed the same diet in the absence of Salmate DHA+ (Control). There was an increase in sperm/ejaculate when Salmate DHA+ was fed vs. the control diet. Salmate DHA+ also decreased apoptosis during spermatogenesis and increased daily sperm production. This is the first study to demonstrate that a fish oil supplement can decrease apoptosis and thereby increase sperm production in a normal male.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Amann, R. P., and Almquist J. O... 1962. Reproductive capacity of dairy bulls. VIII. Direct and indirect measurement of testicular sperm production. J. Dairy Sci. 45:774–781. doi: https://doi.org/ 10.3168/jds.s0022-0302(62)89487-9 - DOI
    1. Berndtson, W. E. 1977. Methods for quantifying mammalian spermatogenesis: a review. J. Anim. Sci. 44:818–833. doi: https://doi.org/ 10.2527/jas1977.445818x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Castellano, C. A., Audet I., Bailey J. L., Chouinard P. Y., Laforest J. -P., and Matte J. J... 2010. Effect of dietary n-3 fatty acids (fish oils) on boar reproduction and semen quality. J. Anim. Sci. 88:2346–2355. doi: https://doi.org/ 10.2527/jas.2009-2779 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Costa, D. S., Faria F. J., Fernandes C. A., Silva J. C., and Auharek S. A... 2013. Testis morphometry and kinetics of spermatogenesis in the feral pig (Sus scrofa). Anim. Reprod. Sci. 142:63–70. doi: https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.anireprosci.2013.09.007 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Esmaeili, V., Shahverdi A. H., Moghadasian M. H., and Alizadeh A. R... 2015. Dietary fatty acids affect semen quality: a review. Andrology. 3:450–461. doi: https://doi.org/ 10.1111/andr.12024 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources