Blood serum and skin fatty acid levels in horses and the use of dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids

The effect of the addition of a daily 20 g dose of an unsaturated fatty acid rich oil from Purple Viper's Bugloss seeds (Crossential SA 14, Croda) has been studied on saddle horses fed a near to maintenance level of a first cut meadow hay - barley diet. The percentages of the following fatty acids: C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2 omega6, C18:3 omega3, C18:4 omega3, C20:3 omega6, C20:4 omega3, C20:4 omega6, C22:5 omega3, C22:6 omega3, saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, omega3 fatty acids, omega6 fatty acids, were determined in blood serum and skin. The omega3/omega6 ratio was also considered. No statistical differences were found for the treatment. In the skin, compared with blood serum, a higher percentage of C16: 0, C18: 1, C18: 4 omega3, monounsaturated fatty acids, w3 fatty acids and saturated fatty acids were found; the omega3/omega6 ratio was also higher in the skin. Lower percentages of C18: 0, C18: 2 omega6, polyunsaturated fatty acids and w6 fatty acids were also recorded for the skin, compared with blood serum. The blood levels of fatty acids were not always similar to the values found in the literature, but some differences can be explained by the differences in the diets used. The low level of oil addition can explain the lack of significance of the effect of the oil used. Further studies are needed to confirm the trend in the differences found between blood serum and skin percentages of fatty acids.