High Dietary Copper Increases Catecholamine Concentrations in the Hypothalami and Midbrains of Growing Pigs

The experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of high dietary copper on catecholamine concentration and dopamine-β-hydroxylase (DβH) activity in hypothalami and midbrains of growing pigs. Forty-five crossbred weanling pigs with an average body weight of 7.5 kg were randomly assigned to three groups of 15 each to receive a control diet containing 10 mg/kg Cu (diet A) and diets containing 125 (diet B) or 250 (diet C) mg Cu/kg DM for 45 days. Compared to the control, Cu supplementation at both 125 and 250 mg Cu/kg DM increased average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and feed efficiency. High dietary copper increased midbrain and hypothalami dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) concentrations and midbrain dopamine-β-hydroxylase activity. However, increasing dietary Cu had no effect on hypothalami dopamine-β-hydroxylase activity.