An Experimental Model for Iron Deficiency Anemia in Sows and Offspring Induced by Blood Removal during Gestation

Abstract

Anemia is a common condition in sow herds. We aimed to study the effects of severe iron deficiency during gestation on sow and piglet health outcomes with an experimental model for blood-removal-induced iron deficiency anemia. In total, 18 multiparous sows (8 in trial I and 10 in trial II) were allocated to either a blood removal group or a control group. Hematologic parameters were monitored at regular intervals and the tissue iron concentrations were measured for the sows and newborn piglets after farrowing. In trial I, the mean liver iron content was reduced to 46.7 µg/g in the blood removal sows compared to 252.6 µg/g in the controls (p < 0.001). In trial II, sows in the blood removal group had lower iron content in the liver (147.8 µg/g), kidney (46.3 µg/g) and spleen (326.5 µg/g) compared to the control sows (323.2 µg/g, 81.3 µg/g and 728.9 µg/g, respectively; p = 0.009, 0.016, 0.01, respectively). In trial I, piglets from sows in the blood removal group had significantly decreased hematocrit (Hct), red blood cells (RBC) and a tendency for reduced hemoglobin (Hb) compared to the control piglets. We established a blood removal model that resulted in mild- to severe degrees of sow anemia and reduced tissue iron stores at farrowing.

Large Animal Models for Simulating Physiology of Transfusion of Red Cell Concentrates—A Scoping Review of The Literature

“…However, even when using healthy swine models, it should be considered that chronic anemia is very common in farm-bred swine, particularly in sows as well as in piglets. Thus, chronic anemia might act as a potential confounding factor in porcine animal models [22,70,71]. Furthermore, the differences in porcine and human erythrocyte metabolism with regard to red blood cell storage should be taken into consideration.…”

Ferrous–sucrose complex supplementation regulates maternal plasma metabolism and the fecal microbiota composition and improves neonatal immunity and placental glucose transportation by activating the EGF/PI3K/AKT signaling pathways in sows

“…Iron deficiency has been shown to negatively affect the reproductive performance of sows and the survival rate of newborn piglets. 1 The iron status of pregnant sows during pregnancy was shown to gradually decrease, resulting in their reduced reproductive performance. [2][3][4] Compared with inorganic minerals, organic minerals ionically bind to organic molecules such as amino acids and have chelation characteristics protecting against physicochemical factors, and show better absorption and lower risk of interaction with other minerals, thus allowing their better utilization by the body.…”