ABSTRACT

Single- and group-housed pregnant sows were assessed during 8 weeks (4th and 8th to 14th) with regard to physiological, reproductive, welfare indicators and gene expression profiling. Compared to single-housed sows, group-housed sows had decreased non-return to estrus at 56 days after artificial insemination (AI) (83% vs 92%) and farrowing rate (78% vs 88%), respectively. Furthermore, group-housed sows showed a higher degree (p < 0.01) of advantageous physiological indicators, such as albumin (odds ratio [OR] = 4.4), alkaline phosphatase (OR = 1.5), bactericidal (OR = 3.2) and complement (OR = 24.3), and disadvantageous for alanine amino transferase (OR = 0.5), bilirubin (OR = 0.4), lysozyme (OR = 0.3) and C-reactive protein compared to single-housed. Eighty-seven genes related to immune response were underexpressed (log fold change ≤ 1.5; p < 0.05) during the 8th to 14th weeks in the group compared to single-housed sows, which in turn showed an immunomodulatory reduction on the expression of 43 genes during the 11th to 14th compared to the 4th week. Overall, the results were interpreted as indicative of greater comfort state of the group compared to single-housed sows.

摘要

在第 8 周（第 4 周和第 8 周至第 14 周）期间，对单圈和群养妊娠母猪的生理、繁殖、福利指标和基因表达谱进行了评估。与单独饲养的母猪相比，群养母猪在人工授精 (AI) 后 56 天的不回情率（83% 对 92%）和分娩率（78% 对 88%）分别降低。此外，群养母猪表现出更高的程度（p < 0.01）的有利生理指标，如白蛋白（优势比[OR] = 4.4）、碱性磷酸酶（OR = 1.5）、杀菌（OR = 3.2）和补体（OR = 24.3），对丙氨酸氨基转移酶不利（ OR = 0.5)、胆红素 (OR = 0.4)、溶菌酶 (OR = 0.3) 和 C 反应蛋白与单室相比。87 个与免疫反应相关的基因 在第 8 周至第 14 周期间表达不足（对数倍数变化 ≤ 1.5；p < 0.05），与单圈母猪相比，这反过来显示 43 个基因表达的免疫调节降低与第 4 周相比，第 11 至第 14 周。总体而言，结果被解释为与单圈母猪相比，该组的舒适度更高。