Fasting regulates the expression of adiponectin receptors in young growing pigs

Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2008 | No Comments

Adiponectin is an adipocyte-derived
hormone that can improve insulin sensitivity. Its functions
in regulating glucose utilization and fatty acid
metabolism in mammals are mediated by 2 subtypes
of adiponectin receptors (AdipoR1 and AdipoR2). This
study was conducted to determine the effect of fasting
on the expression of adiponectin and its receptors.
The expression of adiponectin was not affected in s.c.
adipose tissue, but adiponectin expression increased in
visceral adipose tissue after fasting. In contrast, expression
of both AdipoR mRNA was increased in the liver
and s.c. adipose tissue of 24-h-fasted pigs compared
with fed pigs, but the mRNA in muscle and visceral
adipose tissue was not affected by fasting. A third putative
adiponectin receptor, T-cadherin, was cloned and
the mRNA expression was determined. T-Cadherin has
been recognized to act as a vascular adiponectin receptor
in vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells. Our
data showed that the expression of T-cadherin was decreased
in the muscle of fasted pigs, suggesting that the
expression of T-cadherin can be regulated by feeding
status. In summary, in young pigs, adiponectin mRNA
was up-regulated by fasting in visceral, but not s.c.,
adipose tissue, whereas AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 mRNA
were increased in s.c., but not visceral, adipose tissue.
The adiponectin receptor, T-cadherin, was expressed in
s.c. and visceral adipose tissue and in muscle, but only
muscle mRNA expression was decreased by fasting.

InraPorc: A model and decision support tool for the nutrition of sows

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The process of reproduction, from conception to weaning, can be considered as directed to buffer the developing progeny from nutritional distress (Oldham, 1991) and involves both homeostatic and homeorhetic controls of nutrient partitioning (Bauman and Currie, 1980). Reproductive problems, which may result in the reduction of sows productivity or early culling, are often related to extreme variations in body reserves (Dourmad et al., 1994), although body reserves should be considered more as an indicator of the risk for rather than as the real cause of problems. During pregnancy, sufficient body reserves must be built to compensate for the eventual nutritional deficit that may occur in the following lactation. However, these reserves should not be excessive in order to avoid the occurrence of farrowing problems that are typical for fat sows, or to impair feed intake after farrowing. During lactation, it is recommended to adapt nutritional supplies to requirements in order to maximise milk production and piglet’s growth, and minimize reproductive problems of sows after weaning. Consequently, nutritional supplies to sows must be adapted to maintain body reserves in optimal condition all along their productive life and optimise their reproductive performance. On farm, this requires a precise adjustment of the feeding level and the feed composition according to the performance of sows but also to housing conditions, which may affect nutrient utilisation and voluntary feed intake. Experimental results obtained during the last 20 years on energy and amino acid utilization by the pregnant or lactating sow allow improvements in the determination of nutritional requirements according to a target performance (factorial approach), and to predict the response of the animal to nutrient supplies (modelling). Compared to growing pigs, only a few models have been published for sows (Williams et al., 1985; Dourmad, 1987; Pomar et al., 1991; Pettigrew et al., 1992; NRC, 1998), and most of these were research models. In this project, we have integrated the available information on nutrient utilisation by sows to build a decision support tool allowing a global approach to understanding sow nutrition and the associated performance. This decision support tool includes a simulation model that represents on a daily basis (dynamic) the utilisation of key nutrient pools (mechanistic) for a given sow (deterministic). The end-users of these decision support tools are mainly nutritionists involved in pig production and teachers and students in animal nutrition. The aim of the present paper is to describe the basis and the main principles of this tool, which is also available for download at http://www.rennes.inra.fr/inraporc/(INRA, 2006). The sow is represented as different compartments that change over the reproductive cycle. Nutrient flows considered are those of energy and digestible amino acids. Nutrients are used with the highest priority for maintenance and uterine growth or milk production. Subsequently, deposition and/or mobilization of body proteins and lipids are determined and used for estimating the changes in body weight and backfat thickness of the sow. A decision support tool was built from the set of equations given, with additional modules to describe animal’s characteristics and adjust some model parameters to account for variations in genotypes and performance. This tool can be used to determine energy and amino acids requirements of sows according to production objectives, or to predict body composition changes according to a given feeding strategy.

Frequency of the HAL-1843 mutation of the ryanodine receptor gene in dead and nonambulatory-noninjured pigs on arrival at the packing plant

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Four Midwestern packing plants (designated as plants A, B, C, and D) were visited on 53 occasions, and tissue samples were collected postmortem from a total of 2,019 pigs to determine the frequency of the HAL-1843 mutation of the ryanodine receptor gene in dead (DOA), nonambulatory-noninjured (NANI), and normal animals. The mutation was present in all 3 classes of pig. There was a greater frequency of carriers in DOA animals than in the normal or NANI pigs. The 55 pigs that had at least 1 copy of the mutation came from 53 farms; therefore, the mutation was relatively widespread, being present in approximately 11% of the farms sampled. Therefore the data shows that the HAL-1843 mutation is still present in US commercial pig populations, it is low in frequency and therefore not a major cause of transport losses.

Optimized management of genetic variability in selected pig populations

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The results of this research showed the potential value of completing each periodical
calculation of estimated breeding value by optimizations considering genetic variability and
of releasing corresponding information to breeders, in order to enhance
maintenance of genetic variability.

Survey on Salmonella prevalence in slaughter pigs from Saskatchewan

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Organic acids in diets for entire male pigs: Effect on skatole level, microbiota in digesta, and growth performance

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Supplementing diets with formic acid, benzoic acid,
sorbic acid, or normal coated or inulin coated butyric
acid did not affect skatole or indole levels or organic
acid levels in colon of entire male pigs. Formic acid or
benzoic acid supplemented diets resulted in lower
plasma skatole levels than the control or the sorbic
acid supplemented diets. Adding formic acid, benzoic
acid, sorbic acid to diets for entire male pigs reduced
microbial population in the gastro-intestinal tract, but
this did not coincide with changes in skatole production
in the hind-gut.

Investment in swine research is money well spent

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Research has improved
feed efficiency by more
than five per cent over the
last 10 years, reducing feed
costs per market pig by
more than $3.50 – just one
example of the dividends
that flow from investment
in applied research

Effects of breed, sex and halothane genotype on fatty acid composition of triacylglycerols and phospholipids in pork longissimus muscle

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The two major types of lipids in the longissimus muscle (LM) are triacylglycerols (TAG) and phospholipids (PL). The objective of this study was to determine the effects of breed, sex and HAL-1843TM genotype on the fatty acid composition of TAG and PL in LM using purebred pigs fed the same diets. It was found that this report demonstrates that breed and sex were significantly associated with the content of TAG and with the fatty acid composition of
TAG and PL in LM. The HAL-1843TM genotype had minor effects on the concentrations of a few fatty acids in TAG and PL. These results suggest that the effects of breed and sex on fatty acid composition of LM observed in our previous study (Zhang et al. 2007) are the net results of the influences of breed and sex on TAG content and the impact of breed
and sex on TAG and PL fatty acid composition.

Quantification of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide emitted from pig buildings in Korea

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Extensively modern pig production practices degrade the air quality in pig buildings and thereby pose a health risk to the pigs and farm workers (Whyte, 1993; Pearson and Sharples, 1995). To address these environmental problems, the U.S. and Europe are imposing more stringent regulations on aerial contaminants both within and from pig houses (Wathes et al., 1998; Gay et al., 2003). Aerial contaminants generated in the pig buildings are classified into gases, particulates and airborne microorganisms (Wathes, 1994). Representative gaseous compounds in the pig building are ammonia and hydrogen sulfide which are generated by the pigs themselves or by decomposing manure and easily adsorbed onto airbourne dust particles derived from feedstuffs (Bottcher, 2001). If ammonia and hydrogen sulfide are adsorbed onto fine dust particles such as PM2:5, they pose seriously adverse health effects on both pigs and workers because they penetrate the respiratory system (Donham et al., 1986). These gases promote a deterioration of equipment in the pig buildings (Ni et al., 2000b), elicit serious complaints from neighbors if the odors are emitted outdoors (Ni et al., 2000a), and can potentially damage ecosystems by soil acidification, water eutrophication and global warming (Harssema et al., 1981; van Breemen et al., 1982; Buijsman and Erisman, 1988). For pigs, ammonia concentrations above 100 ppm have been shown to cause a decline in feed consumption and daily weight gain (Stombaugh et al., 1969) and concentrations in the range of 50275 ppm lowered the ability of the pigs to clear bacteria from their lungs (Curtis et al., 1977). Concentrations of hydrogen sulfide below 10 ppm have no adverse health effect on pig growth (Curtis et al., 1977), but concentrations of 502100 ppm, 10021000 ppm, and 1000 ppm cause chronic, subacute, and acute intoxication, respectively (Smith et al., 1979). The Korea Ministry of Environment restricts livestock facilities, including pig buildings, to maximum levels of 1 ppm for ammonia and 0.02 ppm for hydrogen sulfide, based on a mandate to lessen odor emissions (KME, 2004). Prior to devising abatement techniques to prevent these environmental and hygiene problems caused by ammonia and hydrogen sulfide emitted from pig buildings, it is essential to accurately determine their concentrations. To date, there is no such field data from pig buildings in Korea. Therefore, the aim of this study was to provide both pig producers and governmental regulators in Korea empirical information on the concentrations and emissions of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide in the different types of pig buildings, and to compare values from Korean pig buildings to those in other countries. Concentrations of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide in the pig buildings averaged 7.5 ppm and 286.5 ppb and ranged from 0.8 to 21.4 ppm and from 45.8 to 1235 ppb, respectively. The mean emissions of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide per pig (normalized to 75 kg liveweight) and area (m²) from pig buildings were 250.2 and 37.8 mg/h/pig and 336.3 and 50:9mg/h/m², respectively. Ammonia and hydrogen sulfide concentrations and emissions were higher in the pig buildings managed with deep-pit manure systems with slats and mechanical ventilation than in other housing types.

For more information the full article can be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03014797

Simultaneous Chemical and Sensory Characterization of Volatile Organic Compounds and Semi- Volatile Organic Compounds Emitted from Swine Manure using Solid Phase Microextraction and Multidimensional Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry–Olfactometry

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In this research, a solid phase microextraction (SPME) and novel multidimensional gas chromatography–mass spectrometry–olfactometry (MDGCMS- O) system were used to simultaneously identify volatile organic compounds and related odors emitted from swine manure. It was found that nearly 68% of the compounds for which reaction rates with OH·radicals are known had an estimated atmospheric lifetime.

For more information the full article can be found at https://www.agronomy.org/publications/jeq