Effects of zinc sulfate pretreatment on heat tolerance of Bama miniature pig under high ambient temperature1

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the heat tolerance of Bama miniature pigs under high ambient temperature (40°C) and Zn interactive functions during heat treatment (HT). Bama miniature pigs (male; n = 24; 6-mo old; BW = 10.79 ± 0.06 kg) were randomly allotted to 4 groups and were fed a basal diet or the basal diet supplemented with 1,500 mg of Zn (ZnSO4·H2O)/kg diet for 38 d. At 7 mo of age (d 30), the thermal neutral (TN) groups remained at 25°C, whereas the HT groups were exposed to ambient temperature at 40°C for 5 h daily for 8 consecutive days. Pigs in 4 groups were sacrificed on d 38. Individual rectal temperatures, skin temperatures, and breathing rates were recorded at 3 h after the onset of HT and the blood samples were collected immediately after HT on d 30, 34, and 38. Pigs fed diets with or without Zn doubled their breathing rates (P < 0.05) and increased body surface, scrotal, and rectal temperatures during HT on d 30, 34, and 38, respectively. Zinc supplementation increased BW gain (BWG; P < 0.05) during 38-d experiment period, and HT decreased BWG only from d 30 to 34 (P < 0.05). Heat treatment increased serum testosterone on d 30 (P < 0.05). Zinc supplementation decreased the heat-induced increase of testosterone in HT on d 30 and 34 (P < 0.05). The relative weight of liver increased in HT groups (P < 0.05). Zinc supplementation decreased the relative weights of spleen (P < 0.05) and testis (P < 0.01). The values of abnormal lymphocyte count and large unstained cell count declined approximately 5 times in groups of Zn supplementation, whereas Zn supplementation increased the values of red blood cell count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin. Zinc concentrations increased in serum, liver, kidney, epididymis, longissimus, hair, and feces in groups fed with Zn (P < 0.01). However, additional Zn decreased Zn concentrations in lung, spleen, and testis (P < 0.01). Moreover, HT decreased serum Zn concentrations (P < 0.01). In conclusion, Zn supplementation could be used to alleviate the decline of serum Zn during periods of high ambient temperatures. However, pretreated supplementation with pharmacological Zn did not promote heat tolerance but impacted the erythropoiesis, immunity, and reproductive organ development in Bama miniature pigs.

Improved survival of porcine acute liver failure by a bioartificial liver device implanted with induced human functional hepatocytes

“…Despite the small size of the experimental cohort, a strong correlation between survival time and implanted hiHep numbers was observed ( Supplementary information, Figure S8A , Pearson correlation coefficient R 2 = 0.98). Interestingly, we found that the weight of 3 billion hiHeps was about 30.9 g. Given that the liver/body weight ratio is 1.9% in adult Bama pigs 30 , 30.9 g of hiHep cells was roughly equivalent to 10% of total liver mass of a 15 kg pig. Taken together, we decided to induce ALF using 0.4 g/kg D-gal and to treat pigs with BAL implanted with 3 billion hiHeps on day 1 post D-gal administration ( Figure 2B ).…”

Effects of dietary supplementation of the osmolyte betaine on growing pig performance and serological and hematological indices during thermoneutral and heat-stressed conditions

“…The physiological and anatomical adaptations that pigs experience during heat stress are not yet fully understood. However, reduced heart size (Heath, 1989;Nienaber et al, 1996;Cruzen et al, 2015) and increased liver size (Li et al, 2015) have been reported in heat-stressed pigs.…”

Efecto del consumo de zinc orgánico en la respuesta productiva de la cerda y su camada

“…El estrés por calor ocurre cuando hay un desbalance entre la producción de calor y su disipación del cuerpo de los animales (Marai et al, 2007;Hansen, 2009;Bernabucci et al, 2010;Lewis y Bunter, 2011). La respuesta homeostática general al estrés calórico incluye una disminución en el consumo de alimento y un incremento en el consumo de agua, así como de la temperatura rectal, la temperatura de la piel y la tasa respiratoria en los cerdos (Pearce et al, 2013;Li et al, 2015). La disminución en el consumo de alimento es una respuesta adaptativa reconocida en muchas especies de animales (Baumgard y Rhoads, 2012), para disminuir la producción de calor metabólico (Renaudeau et al, 2012).…”

“…Debido a que los requerimientos de Zn se incrementan durante el estrés calórico (Lagana et al, 2007), se ha sugerido que la suplementación con Zn podría utilizarse para atenuar la disminución sérica del Zn durante periodos de altas temperaturas ambientales (Chand et al, 2014;Li et al, 2015).…”