The purpose of this research was to determine if chronic dietary L-DOPA supplementation will alter differentially the brain catechol concentrations, dopamine receptor binding (KD and Bmax) and the incidence of pale, soft and exudative (PSE) meat in stress-susceptible (SS) and stress-resistant (SR) pigs. Stress-susceptible and SR pigs were assigned randomly to these four groups: SS pigs as controls, SR pigs as controls, SS pigs with L-DOPA supplementation and SR pigs with L-DOPA supplementation. The experiment began when pigs weighed 23 kg and terminated when pigs weighed 95 kg. Anatomical brain structures removed at slaughter included hypothalamus, thalamus, cortex, cerebellum, olfactory bulb, caudate nucleus, putamen and substantia nigra. Concentrations of norepinephrine and dopamine were greater in the hypothalami of SS than of SR control pigs. The L-DOPA supplementation eliminated the strain differences of brain catecholamine concentrations. Pigs fed L-DOPA had greater concentrations of dihydroxyphenylacetic acid in six of the eight brain regions analyzed than the controls. Dopamine receptor binding (Bmax and KD) of spiroperidol was similar in all four groups of pigs. Pale, soft and exudative pork developed to the same extent in SS pigs with or without L-DOPA treatment. The results suggest that L-DOPA supplementation eliminates strain differences in brain catecholamine concentrations but does not alter PSE meat development or striatal dopamine receptor binding.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.