Growth analysis and blood profile in piglets born by embryo transfer

Evelyne París-Oller; Carmen Matás; Raquel Romar; Jordana S Lopes; Joaquín Gadea; Sebastián Cánovas; Pilar Coy

doi:10.1016/j.rvsc.2021.11.010

Growth analysis and blood profile in piglets born by embryo transfer

Res Vet Sci. 2021 Nov 19:142:43-53. doi: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2021.11.010. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Evelyne París-Oller¹, Carmen Matás², Raquel Romar², Jordana S Lopes¹, Joaquín Gadea², Sebastián Cánovas², Pilar Coy³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Murcia, Campus Mare Nostrum, Murcia, Spain.
² Department of Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Murcia, Campus Mare Nostrum, Murcia, Spain; Institute for Biomedical Research of Murcia, IMIB-Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain.
³ Department of Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Murcia, Campus Mare Nostrum, Murcia, Spain; Institute for Biomedical Research of Murcia, IMIB-Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain. Electronic address: pcoy@um.es.

PMID: 34861454
DOI: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2021.11.010

Abstract

Assisted reproductive technologies (ART), besides solving several reproductive problems, it has also been used as a tool to improve the animal productivity that is required for feeding the human population. One of these techniques, the embryo transfer (ET), has presented limitations in the porcine species, which could constrain its use in the porcine industry. To clarify the potential of this technique, we aimed to compare the impact of using ET or artificial insemination (AI) on the phenotype of the offspring during its first days of age, in terms of growth and blood parameters. At birth, the body weight was higher for ET-females than AI-females, but this difference was no longer observed at day 15. On day 3, it was observed a higher concentration of red blood cells, haemoglobin, and haematocrit in females-ET and a higher concentration of white blood cells in both ET-derived piglets (males and females) when compared to AI groups. On day 3, the biochemical analysis showed a higher level of albumin for ET-derived males, and a lower level of bilirubin for ET-females than AI controls. However, all values were within the normal ranges. Our results indicate that piglets derived from ET seem to be phenotypically similar to those born by AI, which provides preliminary evidence that the ET procedure is a safe technique, but additional studies beyond 15 days of life are requested to conclude its global impact. Furthermore, the presented reference values of blood parameters in this species are interesting data for the pig industry.

Keywords: Blood profile; Embryo transfer; Growth parameters; Phenotype; Piglets.