Potential Biomarkers for Chronic Seasonal Heat Stress in Kagoshima Berkshire Pigs Reared in the Subtropical Region

Moe Ijiri; Kenji Odo; Motohiko Sato; Maiko Kawaguchi; Yoshikazu Fujimoto; Naoki Miura; Tomohide Matsuo; De-Xing Hou; Osamu Yamato; Takashi Tanabe; Hiroaki Kawaguchi

doi:10.2478/jvetres-2022-0024

Potential Biomarkers for Chronic Seasonal Heat Stress in Kagoshima Berkshire Pigs Reared in the Subtropical Region

J Vet Res. 2022 May 31;66(2):209-214. doi: 10.2478/jvetres-2022-0024. eCollection 2022 Jun.

Authors

Moe Ijiri¹, Kenji Odo², Motohiko Sato³, Maiko Kawaguchi^{1

4}, Yoshikazu Fujimoto¹, Naoki Miura¹, Tomohide Matsuo¹, De-Xing Hou⁵, Osamu Yamato¹, Takashi Tanabe², Hiroaki Kawaguchi^{4

6}

Affiliations

¹ Joint Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kagoshima University, 890-0065 Kagoshima, Japan.
² Kagoshima City Meat Inspection Center, 891-0144 Kagoshima, Japan.
³ Department of Surgery, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, 606-8501 Kyoto, Japan.
⁴ Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University, 890-8544 Kagoshima, Japan.
⁵ Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagoshima University, 890-0065 Kagoshima, Japan.
⁶ Laboratory of Veterinary Pathology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Kitasato University, 034-0021 Aomori, Japan.

Abstract

Introduction: Potential biomarkers for chronic seasonal heat stress in Kagoshima Berkshire pigs reared in the subtropical region were investigated by comparing the biomarker changes in the summer (a period of chronic heat stress) and winter (a thermoneutral period) seasons.

Material and methods: Pigs were allocated to summer- and winter-finishing cohorts, 12 each. The evaluations included assessment of carcass traits and internal organs' normality carried out at the time of slaughter, and measurement of biomarkers in whole blood: derivatives of reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs) and biological antioxidant potential as markers of oxidative stress, and serum amyloid A and albumin/globulin (A/G) ratio as markers of acute and chronic inflammation, respectively.

Results: The summer-finished pigs reared under subtropical field conditions showed lower carcass quality than the winter-finished pigs, indicating a potential adverse effect of summer temperatures on the swine industry. Marginal changes were observed in d-ROMs and the A/G ratio between the summer- and winter-finishing cohorts.

Conclusion: The results demonstrate that d-ROMs and the A/G ratio could be used as sensitive markers for heat stress under field conditions.

Keywords: Kagoshima Berkshire pig; albumin/globulin ratio; biological antioxidant potential (BAP); derivatives of reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs); heat stress; oxidative stress.