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Male Pigs (male + pig)
Selected AbstractsSENSORY CHARACTERIZATION OF BOAR TAINT IN ENTIRE MALE PIGSJOURNAL OF SENSORY STUDIES, Issue 4 2000MARIA FONT I FURNOLS ABSTRACT Boar taint has been associated with the pork from entire males. Sensory profiles have been carried out in several studies showing the multidimensional property of boar taint. However, no agreement on the number and kind of descriptors has been reached. The aim of this study was to describe the sensory characteristics of boar taint using a modified Free Choice Profiling technique. The pig meat samples were selected according to their different analytical levels of androstenone and skatole and were sensorially evaluated in duplicate. After selecting the discriminant descriptors for each assessor a Generalized Procrustes Analysis was carried out. Samples with the highest analytical levels of androstenone were characterized by " urine", " sweat", " chemical" and " rancid" odor and flavor, " turpentine", " viscera", " pig/animal" and " naphthalene" odor, and " piquant" flavor. Samples with the highest analytical levels of skatole were characterized by " sweat" odor and flavor, " stable", " manure" and " naphthalene" odor and " pig/animal" flavor. In general the results suggested that both compounds are responsible for certain sensory defects, although the samples with a high androstenone content displayed the majority of them. [source] Hypolipidaemic effects of potato protein and fish protein in pigsJOURNAL OF ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY AND NUTRITION, Issue 4 2009J. Spielmann Summary This study was performed to assess the effects of potato protein and fish protein on concentrations of lipids in plasma and lipoproteins and the expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism in pigs used as an animal model. Therefore, 27 young male pigs with an average body weight of 22 kg were fed diets supplemented with protein extracted from potatoes (containing 849 g protein/kg dry matter), Alaska Pollack fillet as a source of fish protein (containing 926 g crude protein/kg dry matter) or casein which was used as control, for 3 weeks. Diets were formulated to supply identical amounts of each protein to the pigs by the three protein sources, namely 116 g/day in first week and 150 g/day in the second and third week. Pigs fed potato protein had lower concentrations of cholesterol in plasma and LDL than pigs fed casein (p < 0.05); no effect was observed on concentrations of HDL cholesterol and triglycerides. Pigs fed fish protein had lower cholesterol concentrations in plasma, LDL and HDL, and lower triglyceride concentrations in triglyceride-rich lipoproteins than pigs fed casein (p < 0.05). mRNA concentrations of genes involved in bile acid synthesis and cholesterol uptake were higher in pigs fed fish protein than in pigs fed casein (p < 0.05); no effect on these genes was observed in pigs fed potato protein. Expression of genes involved in lipogenesis and fatty acid oxidation was not altered by fish protein. In conclusion, this study shows that fish protein and potato protein lower plasma cholesterol concentrations in pigs. The hypocholesterolaemic effect of fish protein might be in part caused by a stimulation of bile acid synthesis; the reason for the hypocholesterolaemic effect of potato protein requires further elucidation. [source] The pattern of melatonin secretion is rhythmic in the domestic pig and responds rapidly to changes in daylengthJOURNAL OF PINEAL RESEARCH, Issue 4 2001Anssi Tast The aim of the study was to investigate the capability of pigs to respond to abrupt changes in lighting conditions by means of alterations in circadian melatonin profiles. Sixteen pre-pubertal crossbred male pigs weighing 40,45 kg were housed in individual pens in four temperature- and lighting-controlled climate rooms (four pigs per room). In two rooms there was a light,dark cycle of 16 L:8 D (Group A) and in two other rooms 8 L:16 D (Group B). Under both lighting regimens light intensity at pig eye-level was 220,240 lx during the light phase and less than 7 lx (red light) during the dark phase. The lighting regimens were changed after 2 wks to the opposite regimen and the change was repeated after a further 2 wks, so that animals ended up with the same light cycle with which they started. Blood was sampled at 2-hr intervals for 48 hr spanning each time of change in lighting. A further 24-hr sampling was performed at the end of the experiment (2 wks after the last change) in both groups and 1 wk after the change from short to long day lighting in Group A. On 83/86 occasions, pigs exhibited a clear circadian rhythm in plasma melatonin under both lighting regimens. Pigs responded immediately to the change from long to short day lighting by advancing melatonin secretion to the earlier lights-off time and some pigs were able to extend secretion to the delayed lights-on time. For short to long day changeover there was a small immediate response, with secretion pattern following the previously entrained endogenous rhythm to within 3 hr of the previous lights-on time. After 1 wk commencement of secretion was delayed by up to 2 hr, while after 2 wks some pigs were able to delay commencement of secretion until lights-off or to cease at lights-on. It is concluded that the domestic pig is able to commence adjustment to abrupt changes in photoperiod within a 1-wk acclimatization by altering circadian melatonin secretion. The present study suggests that it may be possible to use simplified lighting regimens instead of stepwise changing lighting programs in commercial piggeries to reduce the influence of season on production. [source] Striated Perineal Muscles: Location of Autonomic, Sensory, and Somatic Neurons Projecting to the Male Pig Bulbospongiosus MuscleTHE ANATOMICAL RECORD : ADVANCES IN INTEGRATIVE ANATOMY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 11 2009Maddalena Botti Abstract The location, number, and size of the neurons innervating the bulbospongiosus muscle (BSM) were studied in male pigs, by means of Fast Blue (FB) retrograde transport. After injection of FB into the left BSM, labeled neurons were found bilaterally in the L2-S4 sympathetic trunk ganglia (STGs), in the caudal mesenteric ganglia (CMGs), in the microganglia of the pelvic plexus (PGs), in a dorsolateral area with respect to the central canal of S1-S3 segments of the spinal cord (SC) and in the S1-S4 ipsilateral and S2-S3 contralateral spinal ganglia (SGs). The mean number of labeled FB cells was 3,122 ± 1,968 in STGs, 979 ± 667 in CMGs, 108 ± 104 in PGs, 89 ± 39 in SC and 77 ± 23 in SGs. The area of the multipolar neurons was 852 ± 22 ,m2 in the STGs, 878 ± 23 ,m2 in the CMGs and 922 ± 31 ,m2 in the PGs. The multipolar SC neurons had an area of 1,057 ± 38 ,m2, while pseudounipolar SG cells had dimensions of 2,281 ± 129 ,m2. Our research enables us to highlight two peculiarities regarding the innervation of the boar BSM: the very high number of labeled autonomic neurons and the particular localization of the motor somatic nucleus. Anat Rec, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Gene expression in Large White or Duroc-sired female and castrated male pigs and relationships with pork qualityANIMAL GENETICS, Issue 6 2009A. Kwasiborski Summary This study assessed expression of 12 genes in 24 pig longissimus samples earlier subjected to a proteomic study by our group. Genes were selected on the basis of the earlier proteomic results. Pigs differed in rearing environment (indoors or outdoors), sire breed (Duroc or Large White) and gender (female or castrated male). At slaughter they experienced different stress conditions. The proportion of gene expression changes influenced by treatment factors was consistent with the proportion of protein changes in an earlier proteomic analysis of the same pigs. Expression levels of genes were often correlated. Gene expression was generally not correlated with the levels of the corresponding protein. Finally, most meat quality traits were correlated with the expression of at least one of the studied genes. The most meaningful of these was the association of a slower pH decline with lower levels of HSP72 expression and higher levels of HSP72 protein. ANXA2 and cMDH expression were also associated with various meat quality traits. These relationships may be related to pre-slaughter stress levels and fibre type composition. [source] A porcine model of bladder outlet obstruction incorporating radio-telemetered cystometryBJU INTERNATIONAL, Issue 1 2007Matthew B. Shaw OBJECTIVE To present a novel porcine model of bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) with a standardized bladder outlet resistance and real-time ambulatory radio-telemetered cystometry, as BOO is a common condition with many causes in both adults and children, with significant morbidity and occasional mortality, but attempts to model this condition in many animal models have the fundamental problem of standardising the degree of outlet resistance. MATERIALS AND METHODS BOO was created in nine castrated male pigs by dividing the mid-urethra; outflow was allowed through an implanted bladder drainage catheter containing a resistance valve, allowing urine to flow across the valve only when a set pressure differential was generated across the valve. An implantable radio-telemetered pressure sensor monitored the pressure within the bladder and abdominal cavity, and relayed this information to a remote computer. Four control pigs had an occluded bladder drainage catheter and pressure sensor placed, but were allowed to void normally through the native urethra. Intra-vesical pressure was monitored by telemetry, while the resistance valve was increased weekly, beginning with 2 cmH2O and ultimately reaching 10 cmH2O. The pigs were assessed using conventional cystometry under anaesthesia before death, and samples conserved in formalin for haematoxylin and eosin staining. RESULTS The pigs had radio-telemetered cystometry for a median of 26 days. All telemetry implants functioned well for the duration of the experiment, but one pig developed a urethral fistula and was excluded from the study. With BOO the bladder mass index (bladder mass/body mass × 10 000) increased from 9.7 to 20 (P = 0.004), with a significant degree of hypertrophy of the detrusor smooth muscle bundles. Obstructed bladders were significantly less compliant than control bladders (8.3 vs 22.1 mL/cmH2O, P = 0.03). Telemetric cystometry showed that there was no statistically significance difference in mean bladder pressure between obstructed and control pigs (4.8 vs 6.7 cmH2O, P = 0.7), but that each void was longer in the pigs with BOO. CONCLUSION This new model of BOO provides a method of reliably and precisely defining the bladder outlet resistance; it induces the changes classically seen with BOO, including increased bladder mass, increased smooth muscle bundle size and decreased compliance. [source] | ||||||||||