N−6 fatty acids are essential fatty acids and can only be obtained from feed. After weaning, all the offspring pigs were fed the same food. Therefore, it is interesting that differences continued to exist between the two groups. One possible explanation may be the relative populations of different fatty acid transporters in the intestines, such as the fatty acid transport protein (FATP) family, fatty acid translocase/cluster of differentiation 36 (FAT/CD36), and the fatty acid binding pro-teins (FABP). The difference in food during the neonatal period may influence a number of these transporters (Drozdowski et al., 2010). A change in the intestinal transporter development during the early stage of life may influence the fatty acid absorption later in life and ultimately lead to a different fatty acid composition in the LT muscle at the finishing stage (Thomson, Keelan, Cheng, & Clandinin, 1993). This issue still requires further investigations.
In summary, a high-fat maternal diet during the lactation period changed the colostrum in sows and LT muscle fatty acid composition in offspring pigs. The total PUFA and n−6 fatty acid contents increased in the LT muscle of the progeny of sows fed a high-fat diet, but the total fat content did not change significantly.