Prenatal stress effects on pig development and response to weaning

Area of Science:

• Animal Science
• Reproductive Biology
• Endocrinology

Background:

• Prenatal stress in sows can negatively impact offspring development and physiology.
• Understanding the effects of different prenatal stress models is crucial for animal welfare and production.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the physiological effects of rough handling and ACTH-induced prenatal stress on pig offspring.
• To compare the impacts of these two prenatal stress models on offspring physiology and sexual morphology.

Main Methods:

• Pregnant sows were treated with ACTH injection, rough handling, or served as controls weekly during gestation.
• Offspring were assessed for birth data, including anogenital distance, and physiological parameters post-weaning.
• Plasma cortisol, corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG), and hematological profiles were analyzed.

Main Results:

• ACTH treatment resulted in the highest plasma cortisol levels, with rough handling showing intermediate values.
• No significant differences were observed in litter size, stillbirths, or piglet viability across treatment groups.
• Pigs from ACTH-treated sows exhibited a smaller anogenital distance, indicating altered sexual morphology, while rough handling showed intermediate effects.

Conclusions:

• Prenatal stress, particularly ACTH-induced stress, can lead to alterations in sexual morphology of swine offspring.
• The studied prenatal stress models did not significantly affect growth performance or the measured immune cell populations in the offspring.