Files and links (2)
Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0, Open Access
Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0, Open
Journal article
Pilot Study of the Relationship between Deck Level and Journey Duration on Plasma Cortisol, Epinephrine and Norepinephrine Levels in Italian Heavy Pigs
Animals, Vol.10(9), pp.1-13
04/09/2020
PMCID: PMC7552316
PMID: 32899653
Metrics
1 Record Views
Abstract
The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the relationship between journey duration, deck level and activation patterns of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis (HPA) and sympathetic adrenal medullary system (SAM) in pigs. A total of 90 pigs were examined. The animals came from three different Italian farms associated with the same slaughterhouse located in Bari (Apulia region-Italy). A group of thirty animals was transported from Pordenone (11 h journey); a second group was transported from Terni (6.5 h journey); a third group was transported from Benevento (3 h journey). The animals were transported in the same vehicle, which complied with the structural characteristics indicated in the Council Regulation (EC) No. 1/2005. The truck was composed of a lorry and a trailer, each one divided into three decks. Only the animals transported in the trailer were tested for the study. Before transportation, blood samples were collected on each farm, at 6:00 a.m., from 30 pigs randomly selected out of 135 pigs ready to be transported. Blood samples were also collected during slaughter to evaluate plasma cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine, around 6:00 a.m. A journey duration of 11 h was associated with significantly higher plasma concentrations of stress hormones compared with shorter journeys. This increase was proportional to the journey duration, with the pigs travelling for 6.5 h displaying intermediate concentrations between those noticed after 3 h and 11 h journeys. The interaction between deck and journey distance was not significant on epinephrine, norepinephrine or cortisol levels collected at arrival. There was a significant effect of deck level on norepinephrine levels (p < 0.0001), a tendency to influence epinephrine levels (p = 0.073) but no effect on cortisol levels (p = 0.945). Overall, we observed that an 11 h-long journey seemed to impact negatively on pigs’ HPA-SAM activity, likely requiring the animals to spend more time in the lairage facilities to recover.
Details
- Title
- Pilot Study of the Relationship between Deck Level and Journey Duration on Plasma Cortisol, Epinephrine and Norepinephrine Levels in Italian Heavy Pigs
- Creators
- Giancarlo Bozzo - University of Bari Aldo MoroBarbara Padalino - University of BolognaElisabetta Bonerba - University of Bari Aldo MoroRoberta Barrasso - University of Bari Aldo MoroVincenzo Tufarelli - University of Bari Aldo MoroMartina Zappaterra - University of BolognaEdmondo Ceci - University of Bari Aldo Moro
- Publication Details
- Animals, Vol.10(9), pp.1-13
- Publisher
- MDPI
- Identifiers
- 991013293553202368
- Copyright
- © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering; Veterinary Science
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article