Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA.
J Anim Sci. 2021 Sep 1;99(9). doi: 10.1093/jas/skab249.
Visceral organs (VO) are essential for their role in the metabolism and distribution of consumed nutrients as well as other life functions in animals. Two experiments were conducted to assess the natural longitudinal changes that the VO undergo from birth through 150 kg body weight (BW). In Experiment 1, a total of 96 crossbred pigs were euthanized at birth (pre-suckle), d 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 14, 21 (weaning), 22, 23, 24, 26, 28, 42, 49, and 63 of age. In Experiment 2, a total of 48 crossbred pigs were euthanized at 30, 50, 75, 100, 125, and 150 kg of BW. The absolute weight of VO, and the volume and length of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) were measured. In both experiments, the absolute weight of VO, GIT length, and their volume increased (linear, quadratic, and/or cubic, P < 0.05) as BW and age increased. In Experiment 1, the relative weight of VO (liver, kidney, heart, and lung) decreased after initially increasing within the first week of life (linear, quadratic, and/or cubic, P < 0.05), whereas the relative weight of all VO decreased as BW increased in Experiment 2 (linear and/or quadratic, P < 0.05). The relative length of small intestine decreased and that of large intestine increased as age increased in Experiment 1 (linear and quadratic, P < 0.05), whereas the relative length of the small and large intestine in Experiment 2 were relatively constant at 80% and 20% of the total length of the intestine, respectively. As age and BW increased, the relative volume of the large intestine to the total volume of the GIT increased (linear and/or quadratic, P < 0.05), while the relative volume of the small intestine decreased (linear and/or quadratic, P < 0.05). In conclusion, results showed that both absolute and relative measurements (weight, volume, and length) of VO were dependent on the BW (age) of the pig.
内脏器官（VO）在动物的新陈代谢和消耗营养物质的分布以及其他生命功能中起着重要作用。进行了两项实验，以评估 VO 从出生到 150 公斤体重（BW）期间的自然纵向变化。在实验 1 中，总共 96 头杂交猪在出生时（预哺乳）、第 1、2、3、5、7、14、21 天（断奶）、22、23、24、26、28、42、49 和 63 天被安乐死。在实验 2 中，总共 48 头杂交猪在 30、50、75、100、125 和 150 公斤 BW 时被安乐死。测量了 VO 的绝对重量以及胃肠道（GIT）的体积和长度。在这两个实验中，随着 BW 和年龄的增加，VO 的绝对重量、GIT 长度和它们的体积增加（线性、二次和/或三次，P <0.05）。在实验 1 中，VO 的相对重量（肝脏、肾脏、心脏和肺）在生命的第一周内最初增加后下降（线性、二次和/或三次，P <0.05），而在实验 2 中，随着 BW 的增加，所有 VO 的相对重量均下降（线性和/或二次，P <0.05）。在实验 1 中，随着年龄的增加，小肠的相对长度减少，大肠的相对长度增加（线性和二次，P <0.05），而在实验 2 中，小肠和大肠的相对长度分别相对恒定为肠总长度的 80%和 20%。随着年龄和 BW 的增加，大肠相对于 GIT 总容积的相对容积增加（线性和/或二次，P <0.05），而小肠的相对容积减少（线性和/或二次，P <0.05）。总之，结果表明，VO 的绝对和相对测量（重量、体积和长度）都取决于猪的 BW（年龄）。
