Spiesberger Katrin, Lürzel Stephanie, Patzl Martina, Futschik Andreas, Waiblinger Susanne
Institute of Animal Welfare Science, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
Institute of Immunology, Department for Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
Animals (Basel). 2019 Sep 5;9(9):657. doi: 10.3390/ani9090657.
The focus of animal welfare science has shifted over the last decades from efforts to avoid negative states to ways of allowing animals the experience of positive emotions. They may influence physiological processes in farmed animals, potentially providing health benefits; in addition, the physiological changes might be used as indicators of emotional states. We investigated calves' salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) concentrations with regard to a possible circadian rhythm and two situations that elicit positive emotions. Ten saliva samples of 14 calves were taken on two consecutive days; within the course of a day we observed a significant decline in salivary sIgA concentrations at 14:00 h. Further, we probed the animals before and after milk feeding and, contrarily to our prediction, detected lower sIgA concentrations 5 min after feeding than 15 min before. A probable explanation might be an increase in salivary flow rate caused by milk ingestion. We also took samples before and after we stimulated play behavior in calves. There was no significant difference in sIgA concentrations between samples taken before and after play. Although there was a significant correlation between the change in sIgA concentrations and the amount of play behavior shown, the correlation depended on an unexpected decrease of sIgA in animals that played little, and thus, does not support our hypothesis. In general, the data showed a large variability that might arise from different factors that are difficult to standardize in animals. Thus, the use of salivary sIgA concentrations as a marker of positive emotions in calves is not supported conclusively by the present data.
在过去几十年里，动物福利科学的重点已从努力避免负面状态转向让动物体验积极情绪的方式。积极情绪可能会影响养殖动物的生理过程， potentially providing health benefits; in addition, the physiological changes might be used as indicators of emotional states. 我们研究了犊牛唾液分泌型免疫球蛋白A（sIgA）浓度与可能的昼夜节律以及两种引发积极情绪的情况之间的关系。连续两天采集了14头犊牛的10份唾液样本；在一天当中，我们观察到14:00时唾液sIgA浓度显著下降。此外，我们在喂奶前后对动物进行了检测，与我们的预测相反，发现喂奶后5分钟的sIgA浓度低于喂奶前15分钟。一个可能的解释可能是摄入牛奶导致唾液流速增加。我们还在刺激犊牛玩耍行为前后采集了样本。玩耍前后采集的样本中sIgA浓度没有显著差异。虽然sIgA浓度的变化与所表现出的玩耍行为量之间存在显著相关性，但这种相关性取决于玩耍少的动物中sIgA意外下降的情况，因此，并不支持我们的假设。总体而言，数据显示出很大的变异性，这可能源于动物中难以标准化的不同因素。因此，目前的数据并不能确凿地支持将唾液sIgA浓度用作犊牛积极情绪指标的观点。
