Browsing by Subject "Lameness"

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    Changes in saliva proteins in two conditions of compromised welfare in pigs: T an experimental induced stress by nose snaring and lameness
    (Elsevier, 2019-06-19) Escribano Tortosa, Damián; Horvatić, Anita,; Contreras Aguilar, María Dolores; Guillemin, Nicolas,; Cerón Madrigal, José Joaquín; Tecles Vicente, Fernando; Martínez Miró, Silvia; Eckersall, Peter David; Manteca, Xavier; Mrljak, Vladimir; Producción Animal
    The aim of this study was to identify biological pathways and proteins differentially expressed in saliva of pigs in two conditions of compromised welfare: an acute stress consisting of restraint with a nose snare and in pigs with lameness which is a highly frequent problem in the swine industry. For this purpose, high-resolution quantitative proteomics based on Tandem Mass Tags labelling was used. Four proteins showed significant differences in the conditions of compromised welfare, namely cornulin, the heat shock protein 27 and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), that showed significant increases, whereas immunoglobulin J chain showed a significant decrease. LDH, which was the protein that showed the highest differences, was selected for validation and clinical evaluation as a diagnostic biomarker. Significant changes in this protein were observed between pigs restrained with a nose snare and pigs with lameness compared with healthy pigs when measured with available commercial assays in a larger population of pigs. In conclusion, this study reports that in situations of compromised welfare on farm, such as acute stress and lameness in pigs, there are changes in proteins and metabolic pathways in saliva, and describes a series of proteins that could potentially be used as biomarkers for both short term acute stress and longer term chronic stress of lameness. These biomarkers would have the advantage of being measured in saliva by a noninvasive and not stressful collection sampling procedure.
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    Differences in weight, hierarchy, and incidence of lameness between two groups of adult pigs derived from assisted reproductive technologies
    (MDPI, 2022-12-17) Ramírez, Lisette L.; Ortin Bustillo, Alba; Ramis, Guillermo; Romar, Raquel; Coy, Pilar; Romero Aguirregomezcorta, Jon; Ramírez, Lisette L.; Ortín Bustillo, Alba; Ramis Vidal, Manuel Guillermo; Romar Andrés, Raquel; Coy Fuster, Pilar; Anatomía y Anatomía Patológica Comparadas ; Facultad de Veterinaria
    The in vitro production (IVP) and subsequent transfer of embryos (ET) to recipient mothers is not yet an established reproductive technology in the pig industry, as it is in cattle. However, that the trade of IVP-cryopreserved pig embryos is expected to start in the next decades. Society and governments are increasingly aware of the repercussions that IVP could have for animal health, welfare, behavior, or food safety, but proven scientific information for this type of animal does not exist, since no colonies of pigs have been created to this end. We created a small one and studied the differences between 16 IVP-derived pigs and 14 pigs derived from artificial insemination (AI), at 3.5 years of age, conceived from the same boar, and housed and fed under the same conditions since they were born. Incidence of lameness, position in the herd hierarchy, weight, adenosine deaminase activity, and hematological and biochemical analytes were compared between the two groups of animals. The results showed that the IVP animals weighed more, occupied higher positions in the herd hierarchy, and had a lower incidence of lameness. Although genetic differences from the maternal line could explain some of these results, it is also possible that the IVP animals developed better adaptative abilities, but more studies with a higher number of animals are necessary to reach consistent conclusions.
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    Use of adenosine deaminase (ADA) as a biomarker for lameness and growth speed in pigs
    (Springer Nature, 2022) Ramirez, Lisette; Romar, Raquel; Canovas, Sebastian; Ortin, Alba; Coy, Pilar; Romero Aguirregomezcorta, Jon; Fisiología
    Adenosine deaminase 2 (ADA) is an enzyme considered a biomarker of the immune system, which is found in serum, saliva, and lymphoid tissue. A direct relationship between ADA in saliva and the immune status of the animal has been shown, but there are few studies on the use of ADA as a biomarker for growth rate or lameness. Here, a colony of pigs (N=27, 22 females and 5 males, Large-White x Landrace living in semi-free conditions in a sanctuary located at the Teaching Farm of the University of Murcia (Spain) was used. From birth to the present, their individualized growth curves were recorded. At 3.5-year age, saliva samples were taken to detect ADA, and the animals suffering from lameness, one of the most frequent pathologies in the pig sector, were identified. ADA measurement was performed using a commercial automated spectrophotometric assay (Diazyme Laboratories, Poway, CA, USA) adapted to the Olympus AU600 analyzer, a validated method for pig saliva. Statistical analysis was performed in ``R´´ version 4.0.3 (R Core Team 2020). The variables used for the analysis were ADA2 values in saliva and presence/absence of lameness at the age of 3.5 years, and average daily weight gain (ADG) () at different age points. Spearman's correlation coefficient (s) was used to measure the correlations between the variables. The results showed a negative correlation (s=-0.4) between ADA values and ADG in the period between days 45 and 90. These ADA values could indicate a greater predisposition to diseases in animals with low ADG at that time due to a worse immune status. No correlation with the ADA values was found for the incidence of lameness (s=-0.19). However, a strong relationship was observed between ADG in 90-135 days and the incidence of lameness at 4 years of age (s=0.52). Likewise, positive correlations were observed between ADG at 0-45 days (s=0.45), 45-135 (s=0.46) and 0-135 days (s=0.47) and the incidence of lameness at 4 years. These data indicate that rapid growth rate during the first 6 months of life predisposes animals to lameness in adulthood.