In this study, a novel 'rope-assisted swab method' for the collection of saliva samples from 45 adult pigs was established and validated. This method was efficient for harvesting 2 milliliters or more of saliva from each of the pigs for subsequent analyses within two min. The amount of α-amylase and lipase in the collected saliva samples was between 38-6,655 and 2-52 U/l, respectively. For HCO3- and electrolytes, the range was between 9-40, 15-76, 4.3-48.5 and 7-65 mM for HCO3-, Na+, K+ and Cl-, respectively. No significant differences in the enzymatic and electrolytic profiles were observed among sows with a high average litter size (SHA), sows with a low average litter size (SLA) and non-pregnant gilts (NPG) in this study. Our work reveals the efficiency of this collection method for mature pigs, and enzymatic and electrolytic profiling of saliva, which may be a useful reference for multiple diagnostic applications.
Keywords: electrolytes; lipase; saliva; saliva collection method; α-amylase.