Currie Sarah, Swindle M Michael, Suckow Mark A, Zhang Jerry Q, Adusumilli Satish
Clinical Veterinarian, R&D, Intuitive, Inc., Sunnyvale, California, USA.
Professor Emeritus, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
Vet Med Sci. 2025 Sep;11(5):e70511. doi: 10.1002/vms3.70511.
Transportation of pigs may be associated with stress, which can negatively affect animal welfare and study outcomes. When acclimation is not possible prior to surgical manipulation, it is not well known whether duration of transportation affects stress biomarkers and clinical parameters in pigs under suitable transport conditions. This study evaluated the impact of transport time on various stress biomarkers including cortisol, chromogranin A and testosterone. In addition, clinical observations and physiological parameters for the two groups of pigs were monitored for evidence of distress. Group 1 consisted of seven female (Yorkshire 25%/Landrace 25%/Duroc 50%) swine. These animals were transported for 1 h and 45 min prior to surgical intervention. Group 2 consisted of five female (Yorkshire 50%/Landrace 50%) swine. These animals were transported for 8 h prior to surgical intervention. Animals in both groups underwent an acute surgical study within 2 h of arrival at the test facility. The results showed that there were no significant differences in cortisol from baseline and following transportation for Groups 1 and 2 (p > 0.05). Data for testosterone in both groups were identical in the pre- and post-transport periods. Data for chromogranin A showed very little variability for both groups. Furthermore, there were no significant clinical or physiologic observations to suggest that one group experienced greater stress than the other. These results support the conclusion that transport times of less than 8 h do not result in distress to pigs.
猪的运输可能与应激有关，这会对动物福利和研究结果产生负面影响。当在手术操作前无法进行适应时，在合适的运输条件下，运输时长是否会影响猪的应激生物标志物和临床参数尚不清楚。本研究评估了运输时间对包括皮质醇、嗜铬粒蛋白A和睾酮在内的各种应激生物标志物的影响。此外，还监测了两组猪的临床观察指标和生理参数，以寻找痛苦迹象。第一组由七只雌性猪（25%约克夏/25%长白/50%杜洛克）组成。这些动物在手术干预前运输了1小时45分钟。第二组由五只雌性猪（50%约克夏/50%长白）组成。这些动物在手术干预前运输了8小时。两组动物在抵达测试设施后2小时内均接受了一项急性手术研究。结果显示，第一组和第二组运输前后的皮质醇与基线相比均无显著差异（p>0.05）。两组运输前后的睾酮数据相同。两组嗜铬粒蛋白A的数据变异性都很小。此外，没有显著的临床或生理观察结果表明一组比另一组经历了更大的应激。这些结果支持了以下结论：运输时间少于8小时不会给猪带来痛苦。
