Cold stress reduces the acquisition of colostral immunoglobulin in piglets

One-hundred and fourteen piglets were utilized in two experiments designed to determine the effect of a single or intermittent exposure to cold air on the acquisition of colostral gamma globulin. Piglets were allotted before nursing according to weight and sex to a thermoneutral (36 C) or a cold (10 C) treatment group. After nursing, gamma globulin in serum increased in both thermoneutral and cold-stressed piglets. However, the single 2.5-hr cold exposure near birth lowered (P less than .01) gamma globulin concentrations in serum at 14.5 hr of age and tended (P less than .10) to lower immunoglobulin levels at 24, 36 and 48 hr after thermal treatment. In the second experiment, three intermittent 1-hr exposures to 10 C during the first 15 hr of life consistently lowered serum gamma globulin by comparison with concentrations in the serum of piglets held at thermoneutrality (36 C), but these differences were not significant. Piglets dying before 21 days had lower (P less than .10 and P less than .01, Exp. 1 and Exp. 2, respectively) gamma globulin concentrations in the serum during the first day of life than did those piglets that survived. These data indicate that a single 2.5-hr exposure to cold air temperatures at birth reduces the subsequent acquisition of colostral immunoglobulin. A reduction in the amount of antigen-specific antibody from colostrum may contribute to preweaning mortality among young pigs.