Department of Animal Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
Metabolite Profiling Facility, Bindley Bioscience Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
J Anim Sci. 2021 Aug 1;99(8). doi: 10.1093/jas/skab189.
A marker indicative of the fertility potential of replacement gilts early in development would decrease culling rates in the sow herd, improve sow herd reproductive efficiency, and reduce production costs. The objective of this study was to determine if vaginal lipid profiles at 21 d postnatal (PN) could predict sow reproductive performance. Vaginal swabs of the anterior vagina were taken at 21 ± 4 d PN from gilts born on a commercial sow production facility for lipidomic analysis. Animals were followed prospectively for 2 yr and assigned to reproductive performance categories based on the observation of estrus or piglets weaned per sow per year (PSY) across two farrowings. Lipids were extracted from cellular material collected with swabs taken from high fertility (HF; n = 28; ≥26 PSY) and infertile (IF; n = 34; no estrus, no pregnancy) animals, and multiple reaction monitoring profiling was used for lipidome analysis. The relative abundance of arachidonic acid (C20:4) and docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6) was lower (P < 0.05) in IF gilts than HF gilts, whereas the abundance of the free fatty acids such as cerotic (C26:0), ximenic (C26:1), and nonadecanoic (C19:0) acids was greater (P < 0.05) in IF gilts. Additionally, eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5), a precursor of prostaglandins, was higher (P < 0.05) in IF gilts. The perspective of having a panel of lipids captured with vaginal swabs at weaning that can predict the reproductive efficiency of gilts shows promise and warrants future research in this area.
一种能够早期预测后备母猪繁殖潜力的标志物，可以降低母猪群的淘汰率，提高母猪群的繁殖效率，并降低生产成本。本研究旨在确定产后 21 天（PN）阴道脂质谱是否可以预测母猪的繁殖性能。在商业母猪生产设施中，于产后 21 ± 4 天从出生的后备母猪的阴道前腔中采集阴道拭子，用于脂质组学分析。这些动物被进行前瞻性跟踪，根据每年每头母猪的发情或断奶仔猪数（PSY）将其分为繁殖性能类别。从来自高繁殖力（HF；n = 28；≥26 PSY）和不孕（IF；n = 34；无发情，无妊娠）动物的阴道拭子中提取细胞物质中的脂质，并使用多重反应监测技术进行脂质组分析。IF 后备母猪的花生四烯酸（C20:4）和二十二碳六烯酸（C22:6）的相对丰度较低（P < 0.05），而游离脂肪酸如蜡酸（C26:0）、西门酸（C26:1）和十九烷酸（C19:0）的丰度较高（P < 0.05）。此外，前列腺素的前体二十碳五烯酸（C20:5）在 IF 后备母猪中更高（P < 0.05）。用阴道拭子在断奶时获取一组能够预测后备母猪繁殖效率的脂质的前瞻性研究显示出了希望，并值得在该领域进行进一步研究。
