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The good news is that there has been success in breeding cattle to produce more milk, but the bad news is that there has been a consequent dramatic decrease in fertility of dairy cows. Earlier studies showed that supplementation of the cows' diet with high fat improved follicular development. Now, in a study reported on p. 9, Fouladi-Nashta et al. report that a diet high in fatty acids improves blastocyst production of oocytes matured, fertilized, and developed in culture. Blastocysts from the high-fat diet group had more total cells, inner cell mass cells, and trophectoderm cells. Thus a diet high in fatty acids improves the quality of oocytes and blastocysts produced, and the negative effects of high milk yield on bovine oocyte quality are countered by high dietary fatty acids. These results could explain, at least in part, how high fat diets may improve fertility in dairy cows.
Ali A. Fouladi-Nashta, Carlos G. Gutierrez, Jin G. Gong, Philip C. Garnsworthy, and Robert Webb. Impact of Dietary Fatty Acids on Oocyte Quality and Development in Lactating Dairy Cows. Biol Reprod 2007; 77:9–17. Published online ahead of print 7 March 2007; DOI 10.1095/biolreprod.106.058578
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