Manenti Isabella, Viola Irene, Canto Francisco, Accornero Paolo, Toschi Paola, Versace Carmine, Macchi Elisabetta, Martignani Eugenio, Abecia José Alfonso, Miretti Silvia
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, Grugliasco, Italy.
Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuaria, Santiago, Chile.
J Anim Sci. 2025 Jan 4;103. doi: 10.1093/jas/skaf123.
For livestock, transport can involve several potential stressors including human handling, stocking density, air temperature, noise, vibration, and loading/unloading procedures. The animal's perception of and its ability to adapt to those stimuli are not fully understood, which makes it difficult to carry out welfare assessments. This study aimed to detect stressful moments in lambs during transport through changes in physiological and molecular markers. Data obtained from bio-loggers that record physiological variables and an evaluation of molecular biomarkers such as cortisol and circulating microRNAs (c-miRNAs) identified the most stressful moments of transport, which can be a valuable tool for evaluating and improving transport conditions for livestock. Rasa Aragonesa lambs were implanted with bio-loggers that record subcutaneous body temperature (BT) and heart rate (HR). Plasma and saliva were sampled for molecular analyses; specifically, saliva for cortisol concentrations, plasma for creatine kinase (CK), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and plasma and saliva for c-miRNAs expression profiles. Immediately after the lambs were unloaded, the bio-loggers registered a significant (P < 0.05) spike-in HR and a drop in BT, and salivary cortisol concentrations increased significantly (P < 0.05), which indicated unloading as one of the main stressful points for the lambs. Out of the 17 miRNAs tested, 4 showed a significant difference in expression (P < 0.05). MiR-23a and -27a were both expressed in plasma and saliva, while miR-17 and -24 were most expressed in saliva after unloading. Finally, the expression of plasmatic miR-23a, -24, and 27a were significantly (P < 0.05) positively correlated with the LDH whose concentrations together with those of CK are significantly increased (P < 0.01) after unloading. The study identified the timing of a lamb's adaptation response during and after transport, which reflected the dynamic nature of ovine plasma and salivary miRNAs during transport-induced stress, giving them the potential to be biomarkers that can be useful in animal welfare assessments.
对于家畜而言，运输可能涉及多种潜在应激源，包括人工操作、饲养密度、气温、噪音、振动以及装卸程序。目前尚未完全了解动物对这些刺激的感知及其适应能力，这使得进行福利评估变得困难。本研究旨在通过生理和分子标记的变化来检测羔羊在运输过程中的应激时刻。从记录生理变量的生物记录器获得的数据以及对皮质醇和循环微小RNA（c-miRNA）等分子生物标志物的评估，确定了运输过程中最具应激性的时刻，这对于评估和改善家畜运输条件可能是一个有价值的工具。给阿拉贡纳山羊羔羊植入记录皮下体温（BT）和心率（HR）的生物记录器。采集血浆和唾液进行分子分析；具体而言，采集唾液检测皮质醇浓度，采集血浆检测肌酸激酶（CK）和乳酸脱氢酶（LDH），采集血浆和唾液检测c-miRNA表达谱。羔羊卸载后，生物记录器立即记录到心率显著（P < 0.05）飙升和体温下降，唾液皮质醇浓度显著增加（P < 0.05），这表明卸载是羔羊的主要应激点之一。在测试的17种miRNA中，有4种显示出表达上的显著差异（P < 0.05）。MiR-23a和-27a在血浆和唾液中均有表达，而miR-17和-24在卸载后在唾液中表达最多。最后，血浆miR-23a、-24和27a的表达与LDH显著（P < 0.05）正相关，卸载后LDH和CK的浓度均显著增加（P < 0.01）。该研究确定了羔羊在运输期间和之后适应反应的时间，这反映了运输诱导应激期间绵羊血浆和唾液miRNA的动态特性，使其有可能成为可用于动物福利评估的生物标志物。
