Potential biomarkers for chronic seasonal heat stress in Kagoshima Berkshire pigs reared in the subtropical region
Pubblicato online: 31 mag 2022
Pagine: 209 - 214
Ricevuto: 08 dic 2021
Accettato: 10 mag 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jvetres-2022-0024
Parole chiave
© 2022 M. Ijiri et al. published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Introduction
Potential biomarkers for chronic seasonal heat stress in Kagoshima Berkshire pigs reared in the subtropical region were investigated by comparing the biomarker changes in the summer (a period of chronic heat stress) and winter (a thermoneutral period) seasons.
Material and Methods
Pigs were allocated to summer- and winter-finishing cohorts, 12 each. The evaluations included assessment of carcass traits and internal organs’ normality carried out at the time of slaughter, and measurement of biomarkers in whole blood: derivatives of reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs) and biological antioxidant potential as markers of oxidative stress, and serum amyloid A and albumin/globulin (A/G) ratio as markers of acute and chronic inflammation, respectively.
Results
The summer-finished pigs reared under subtropical field conditions showed lower carcass quality than the winter-finished pigs, indicating a potential adverse effect of summer temperatures on the swine industry. Marginal changes were observed in d-ROMs and the A/G ratio between the summer- and winter-finishing cohorts.
Conclusion
The results demonstrate that d-ROMs and the A/G ratio could be used as sensitive markers for heat stress under field conditions.