Cappelli Katia, Sabino Marcella, Trabalza-Marinucci Massimo, Acuti Gabriele, Capomaccio Stefano, Menghini Luigi, Verini-Supplizi Andrea
Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Dipartimento di Farmacia, University of Chieti, Chieti, Italy.
Front Vet Sci. 2021 Feb 25;8:602811. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.602811. eCollection 2021.
Intensive farming systems represent a stressful environment for pigs and negatively influence neuroendocrine functions, behavior, and performance. Outdoor farming is an alternative option, which is thought to imply several beneficial effects for the animal. Dietary essential oils are known to be an innovative strategy to improve pig health and performance, and oregano essential oil (ORE) possesses beneficial effects due to its antimicrobial, anti-fungal, and antioxidant properties. We tested the effect of dietary ORE on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in 36 growing pigs, either reared under indoor or outdoor conditions. Quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) assay was used to evaluate the effect of diet (control vs. ORE) and the time of sampling (T1-120 days vs. T2-190 days) on the expression of inflammatory and immune-related genes (β, , and ). Under outdoor condition, the majority of transcripts were upregulated ( < 0.05), assuming a general inflammatory status (TNF, HSP90, NFKB1, IL1β, and STAT3). However, an interaction between diet and the farming system was observed: , and were downregulated ( < 0.05) in the outdoor reared pigs when fed the ORE diet. Our study showed that bioactive compounds of ORE exert their activity, especially when the animals are exposed to stressful stimuli. Dietary ORE can be an acceptable strategy to help pigs tolerate the stress related to the harsh, outdoor, rearing conditions.
集约化养殖系统对猪来说是一个压力环境，会对神经内分泌功能、行为和生产性能产生负面影响。户外养殖是一种替代选择，被认为对动物有多种有益影响。日粮中添加精油是改善猪健康和生产性能的一种创新策略，牛至精油（ORE）因其抗菌、抗真菌和抗氧化特性而具有有益作用。我们测试了日粮中添加ORE对36头生长猪外周血单核细胞（PBMCs）的影响，这些猪分别饲养在室内或室外条件下。采用定量实时PCR（RT-qPCR）分析来评估日粮（对照与ORE）和采样时间（T1 - 120天与T2 - 190天）对炎症和免疫相关基因（β、 、和 ）表达的影响。在户外条件下，大多数转录本上调（ < 0.05），呈现出一般炎症状态（TNF、HSP90、NFKB1、IL1β和STAT3）。然而，观察到日粮与养殖系统之间存在相互作用：在户外饲养的猪中，当饲喂ORE日粮时， 、和 下调（ < 0.05）。我们的研究表明，ORE的生物活性化合物发挥了它们的作用，特别是当动物暴露于应激刺激时。日粮中添加ORE可能是一种可接受的策略，有助于猪耐受与恶劣的户外饲养条件相关的应激。
