1. Cortisol, DHEA, and Sexual Steroid Concentrations in Fattening Pigs’ HairCristina Bergamin, Antonella Comin, Mirco Corazzin, Massimo Faustini, Tanja Peric, Annalisa Scollo, Flaviana Gottardo, M. Montillo, Alberto Prandi, 2019, original scientific article Abstract: The aim of this study was to analyze the feasibility and reliability of using hair as a matrix
to determine the dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and sexual steroid concentrations and the
cortisol/DHEA ratio in fattening pigs. The results could be also used to plan future research to
identify threshold values in order to set up strategies to control the allostatic load and increase the
resilience of fattening pigs before slaughter. The study was conducted on 107 commercial crossbred
rearing pigs. The hair samples were taken by shaving at the age of 36 weeks, and concentrations of
the hormones were measured using a solid-phase microtiter radioimmunoassay. Females had
significantly higher cortisol levels (p < 0.01), significantly lower DHEA concentrations (p < 0.05) and
significantly higher cortisol/DHEA ratios (p < 0.01) than barrows. Progesterone was significantly
higher in gilts than in barrows (p < 0.01). Testosterone and 17β-estradiol were significantly higher
in barrows than in gilts (p < 0.05). If future research can produce threshold values for the different
markers examined, the evaluation of animals under subclinical stress conditions will be possible.
Keywords: fattening pigs, hair, steroid hormones, allostatic load
Published in RUNG: 12.06.2019; Views: 4566; Downloads: 0
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