Department of Farm Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Theriogenology. 2010 Jul 1;74(1):24-30. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2009.12.015. Epub 2010 Mar 1.
Repeated ultrasonographic observation of fetal movements was used to distinguish movement patterns and to investigate the rate of occurrence and temporal organisation of these patterns (rest-activity cycles) during the last three weeks of gestation in the pig. By means of transabdominal ultrasonography with a 3.5MHz linear array transducer, motility in ten different fetuses (one per sow) was studied. Six (median; range 4-6) 1h recordings were made per fetus at 3-5 day intervals. Fifty-five 1h recordings were available for analysis. The occurrence of fetal general movements (GM), isolated head (HM), forelimb movements (LM), and rotations (ROT) was analysed from video tapes. For each movement pattern, the trend in occurrence over time was assessed by multilevel analysis. The temporal association between different movement patterns was studied by calculation of the kappa value. ROT occurred very infrequently and showed no particular trend over time. GM, HM, and LM showed a significant decreasing trend towards parturition (P<0.01). Total fetal activity (i.e., the sum of the four movement incidences) declined from an average of 25% of recording time to 9% over the last three weeks of pregnancy. Periods of fetal quiescence gradually increased with progressing gestation (P<0.05). There was no evidence of concordant association between the periods of rest and activity of GM, HM, and LM or of improved temporal linkage between these movement patterns with time. Fetal bodily activity decreases towards parturition mainly due to prolonged periods of rest. Fetal movement patterns show rest-activity cycles, but each pattern appears to cycle independently from the other throughout late gestation. The present results of spontaneous fetal movements in the pig provide reference data for future studies of fetal activity under different zoo technical conditions or pharmacological interventions.
通过经腹使用 3.5MHz 线性阵列换能器的超声检查,对 10 头不同胎儿(每头母猪一头)的运动进行了研究。每头胎儿进行 6 次(中位数;范围 4-6)每 1h 的记录,间隔 3-5 天。有 55 个 1h 的记录可供分析。从视频带中分析了胎儿一般运动(GM)、孤立头部(HM)、前肢运动(LM)和旋转(ROT)的发生情况。对于每种运动模式,通过多级分析评估随时间发生的趋势。通过计算 Kappa 值研究不同运动模式之间的时间关联。ROT 发生得非常频繁,随时间没有特定的趋势。GM、HM 和 LM 显示出接近分娩的显著下降趋势(P<0.01)。总胎儿活动(即,四种运动发生率的总和)从妊娠最后三周的平均记录时间的 25%下降到 9%。随着妊娠的进展,胎儿静止期逐渐增加(P<0.05)。GM、HM 和 LM 的静止期和活动期之间没有一致的关联,或者这些运动模式之间的时间关联没有随着时间的推移而改善。胎儿体活动在接近分娩时减少主要是由于静止期延长。胎儿运动模式显示出休息-活动循环,但每个模式似乎在妊娠晚期都独立于其他模式循环。本研究中猪自发性胎儿运动的结果为未来在不同动物园技术条件或药理学干预下的胎儿活动研究提供了参考数据。