Stimulation of swine growth by porcine growth hormone

Highly purified porcine growth hormone (pGH; USDA-B1) was administered by im injection (22 micrograms X kg body weight-1 X d-1) to rapidly growing Yorkshire barrows for 30 d. Growth hormone significantly increased growth rate (10%), feed efficiency (4%), cartilage growth and muscle mass. However, pGH did not affect carcass adipose tissue mass. Intramuscular lipid content of the longissimus was increased 50% by pGH administration. Plasma pGH concentration was elevated (7- to 11-fold) for 3 to 5 h post-injection. Chronic administration of pGH depressed pituitary GH content and concentration approximately 45%. No GH antibodies were detected in the plasma of GH-treated swine. Plasma somatomedin-C concentration was increased 55% by GH treatment 3 h post-injection. Plasma glucose and insulin concentrations were both significantly increased in GH-treated swine, suggesting that the animals had developed a state of insulin resistance. Plasma-free fatty acid concentration tended to be higher in GH-treated animals. Treatment of swine with pGH significantly decreased plasma blood urea nitrogen. Assessment of animal health during the trial and postmortem indicated that pGH administration did not have any adverse effects. In summary, treatment of young, rapidly growing swine with pGH stimulated growth performance without affecting animal health or inducing the production of GH antibodies.