Investigations Concerning Vitamin A Requirement, Utilization and Deficiency Symptoms in Pigs

Vitamin and mineral transfer during fetal development and the early postnatal period in pigs.

“…In contrast, Tokach et al (1994) conducted a study on a commercial swine farm with 956 sows and demonstrated that a single injection of b-carotene, vitamin A, or the combination of the two at weaning did not affect subsequent reproductive performance. Feeding diets without supplemental vitamin A has not lowered the sow's reproductive performance for at least two reproductive cycles, suggesting that liver vitamin A stores are in most cases adequate to maintain pregnancy and to prevent congenital defects in the progeny (Hjarde et al, 1961;Selke et al, 1967). Various factors such as dietary nitrates or nitrites can, however, reduce liver vitamin A stores (Seerley et al, 1965).…”

Variation in Vitamin E, Glutathione Peroxidase and Retinol Concentrations in Blood Plasma of Primiparous Sows and their Piglets, and in Vitamin E, Selenium and Retinol Contents in Sows' Milk

“…Selenium is transferred through the placenta, and with higher levels in the gestation diet, concentrations have been increased in colostrum (Nielsen et al, 1979;Loudenslager et al, 1986) and in piglet tissue (Mahan et al, 1977). Small and restricted amounts of retinol are transferred through the placenta from the mother to the foetus (Hjarde et al, 1961), and thus the newborn piglet is highly dependent on the supply of retinol from colostrum. Colostrum has a higher content of vitamin E (Nielsen et al, 1973(Nielsen et al, , 1979Loudenslager et al, 1986;Bonnette et al, 1989;Babinszky et al, 1991;Mahan, 1991aMahan, , 1994, selenium (Nielsen et al, 1979;Chavez, 1985;Loudenslager et al, 1986) and retinol (Nielsen et al, 1965) than milk in later stages of lactation, and ingestion of colostrum has been shown to result in an immediate increase in vitamin E (Barkow et al, 1999), GSH-Px (Loudenslager et al, 1986) and retinol (Dvorá k, 1986) in the blood plasma of the piglet.…”

The Teratogenic Effect of Vitamin a Deficiency in Pigs

“…This is in good agreement with the investigations presented here. However on the basis of our results it is quite impossible to draw conclusions as to the effect of vitamin A therapy at different periods during pregnancy, as the utilization of the vitamin in question 'depends on the way of administration (Hjarde et al, 1961), and in the present experimental series, vitamin A was injected both in aqueous and in oily dispersion.…”

“…The diet given, as already stated. by Hjarde et al (1961) consisted of barley, dried skimmed milk and mineral salt mixture. It contained a supply of 200-1.000 LU.…”