Evaluating the impact of maternal vitamin D supplementation: I. Sow performance, serum vitamin metabolites, and neonatal muscle characteristics.

In Exp. 1, 56 gestating sows (PIC 1050; 35 d postinsemination) were used in a 30-d trial to determine serum 25(OH)D response to increasing concentrations of dietary vitamin D. Sows were randomly allotted to 1 of 7 dietary D treatments (200, 800, 1,600, 3,200, 6,400, 12,800, or 25,600 IU of added D per kilogram of complete diet) with 8 sows per treatment. Increasing D increased (quadratic; < 0.001) serum 25(OH)D with the response depicted by the prediction equation: serum 25(OH)D, ng/mL = 35.1746 + (0.002353 × dietary D, IU/d) - (0.0000000156 × dietary D, IU/d). In Exp. 2, 112 sows and their litters were used to determine the effects of dietary vitamin D regimen on sow performance, subsequent preweaning pig performance, neonatal bone and muscle characteristics, and serum vitamin metabolites. Sows were allotted to 1 of 4 dietary treatments 3 to 5 d following breeding: 800, 2,000, or 9,600 IU of D per kilogram of the diet or 50 µg of 25(OH)D (2,000 IU of D equivalent from Hy-D, DSM Nutritional Products, Parsippany, NJ) per kilogram of diet. There were 25 to 27 sows per treatment. Increasing dietary D increased (linear, = 0.001) serum 25(OH)D of sows on d 100 of gestation, at farrowing, and at weaning. Increasing D in sow diets increased piglet serum 25(OH)D at birth (linear, = 0.001) and weaning (quadratic, = 0.033). Sows fed 50 µg of 25(OH)D/kg had intermediate ( < 0.004) serum 25(OH)D concentrations on d 100 of gestation, at farrowing, and at weaning compared with sows fed 2,000 IU of D/kg and sows fed 9,600 IU of D/kg. Pigs from sows fed 50 µg of 25(OH)D/kg had greater serum 25(OH)D compared with pigs from sows fed 2,000 IU of D/kg, but at weaning, serum 25(OH)D concentrations were similar. Also, pigs from sows fed 9,600 IU of D/kg had greater ( = 0.011) serum 25(OH)D at birth and weaning compared with pigs from sows fed 50 µg of 25(OH)D/kg. Maternal performance, litter characteristics, neonatal bone ash content, and neonatal muscle fiber characteristics were largely unaffected by the dietary vitamin D treatments. Overall, D and 25(OH)D are both useful at increasing serum 25(OH)D concentrations, but more D (on an equivalent IU basis) is needed to achieve similar serum 25(OH)D responses compared with feeding 25(OH)D. Concentration of maternal vitamin D supplementation in lactation impacted milk transfer of the vitamin more so than the form of the vitamin, as evidence by the weaned pig serum 25(OH)D concentrations.