Sow mortality, as the result of pelvic organ prolapse (POP), has been increasing in the last decade in the U.S. swine industry. The objective of this study was to identify potential biological markers associated with risk of POP in sows. We hypothesized that sows differing in perineal score (PS) from PS1–PS3 (PS1—a presumed low POP risk; PS2—a presumed moderate POP risk; and PS3—a presumed high POP risk) would differ in circulatory biomarkers of inflammation and hormonal profiles. On gestation week 15, 2,864 individual sows were assigned a PS, and subsequently, 1.0%, 2.7%, and 23.4% of PS1, PS2, or PS3 sows, respectively, experienced POP. During PS assignment at days 107–116 of gestation, blood samples were collected from sows on two farms of similar genetics, feed sources, and health status. Whole blood was subjected to complete blood count (CBC) analysis (n = 212) and steroid hormones were measured in serum from a subset (n = 110) of animals assigned PS3 parity matched to PS1. Lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), haptoglobin, C-reactive protein (CRP), and creatine kinase (CK) levels were also evaluated. Complete blood count analysis revealed decreased (P ≤ 0.05) mean platelet volume (3.9%), lymphocytes (6.5%), and monocytes (7.5%) in PS3 compared to PS1 sows. Increased (P ≤ 0.02) abundance of androstenedione (13.4%), androsterone (18.2%), estrone (24.8%), and 17β-estradiol (26.2%) was observed in PS3 compared to PS1 sows. Additionally, a 25.8% increase (P = 0.04) in LBP in PS3 compared to PS1 sows was observed. Many dynamic physiological changes occur in sows during late gestation as they approach farrowing. The data presented herein demonstrate that distinct differences in concentrations of circulating biomarkers exist between late gestation sows at high or low risk for POP and may serve as a useful tool for understanding the etiology of POP and evaluation of mitigation strategies.

中文翻译：

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与妊娠晚期母猪盆腔器官脱垂风险相关的循环生物标志物

由于盆腔器官脱垂 (POP) 导致的母猪死亡率在过去十年中一直在美国养猪业中增加。本研究的目的是确定与母猪 POP 风险相关的潜在生物标志物。我们假设母猪的会阴评分 (PS) 与 PS1-PS3 不同（PS1——假定为低 POP 风险；PS2——假定为中度 POP 风险；PS3——假定为高 POP 风险）在炎症和激素的循环生物标志物方面存在差异。配置文件。在妊娠第 15 周，2,864 头母猪被分配了 PS，随后分别有 1.0%、2.7% 和 23.4% 的 PS1、PS2 或 PS3 母猪经历了 POP。在妊娠第 107-116 天进行 PS 分配期间，从遗传、饲料来源和健康状况相似的两个农场的母猪身上采集血样。对全血进行全血细胞计数 (CBC) 分析 (n = 212)，并在来自分配与 PS1 匹配的 PS3 奇偶校验动物子集 (n = 110) 的血清中测量类固醇激素。还评估了脂多糖结合蛋白 (LBP)、肿瘤坏死因子-α (TNF-α)、触珠蛋白、C 反应蛋白 (CRP) 和肌酸激酶 (CK) 水平。全血细胞计数分析显示，与 PS1 母猪相比，PS3 母猪的平均血小板体积 (3.9%)、淋巴细胞 (6.5%) 和单核细胞 (7.5%) 减少 (P ≤ 0.05)。与 PS1 母猪相比，在 PS3 中观察到雄烯二酮 (13.4%)、雄酮 (18.2%)、雌酮 (24.8%) 和 17β-雌二醇 (26.2%) 的丰度增加 (P ≤ 0.02)。此外，观察到与 PS1 母猪相比，PS3 母猪的 LBP 增加了 25.8%（P = 0.04）。母猪在妊娠后期接近分娩时会发生许多动态生理变化。本文提供的数据表明，在 POP 风险高或低的妊娠晚期母猪之间，循环生物标志物浓度存在明显差异，可作为了解 POP 病因和评估缓解策略的有用工具。