Prenatal stress, immunity and neonatal health in farm animal species

Abstract

The high pre-weaning mortality in farm animal species and poor welfare conditions of reproductive females question modern industrial farming acceptability. A growing body of literature has been produced recently, investigating the impact of maternal stress during gestation on maternal and offspring physiology and behavior in farm animals. Until now, the possible impact of prenatal stress on neonatal health, growth and survival could not be consistently demonstrated, probably because experimental studies use small numbers of animals and thus do not allow accurate estimations. However, the data from literature synthesized in the present review show that in ungulates, maternal stress can sometimes alter important maternal parameters of neonatal survival such as colostrum production (ruminants) and maternal care to the newborn (pigs). Furthermore, maternal stress during gestation can affect maternal immune system and impair her health, which can have an impact on the transfer of pathogens from the mother to her fetus or neonate. Finally, prenatal stress can decrease the ability of the neonate to absorb colostral immunoglobulins, and alter its inflammatory response and lymphocyte functions during the first few weeks of life. Cortisol and reproductive hormones in the case of colostrogenesis are pointed out as possible hormonal mediators. Field data and epidemiological studies are needed to quantify the role of maternal welfare problems in neonatal health and survival.

Prenatal stress from trawl capture affects mothers and neonates: a case study using the southern fiddler ray (Trygonorrhina dumerilii)

“…The increase in G:L ratio was probably in response to the air exposure component of trawling9 and may also be related to the increased cost to mount an immune response during pregnancy, because energy allocated to immune function is often diverted towards the greater energetic demands of reproduction29324041. Elevations of sex-steroids associated with reproduction were also found to be immunosuppressive and affected leukocyte proliferation in female little skates, Leucoraja erinacea 42.…”

CAUSES OF MORTALITY OF CAPTIVE ARABIAN GAZELLES (GAZELLA ARABICA) AT KING KHALID WILDLIFE RESEARCH CENTRE, KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA, FROM 1988 TO 2011

“…Maternal neglect is relatively common in nondomestic ruminants and is likely caused by the breeding female's age, disease, extreme weather conditions, stress and/or inadequate surroundings. 22,27,28 Primiparous females appear more likely to exhibit inadequate maternal behavior; in contrast, older females tend to exhibit a higher probability of having one or more clinical complications, which can affect the level of milk production and the size of the calves at birth (Soares, pers. comm.).…”

Response to lipopolysaccharide in salivary components and the submandibular gland of pigs

“…The pituitary-adrenal axis is well-known for its role in response to stress, and increasing evidence shows the importance of the cortisol response during stress (Roy and Sapolsky, 2000;Merlot et al, 2013). In a previous study, salivary cortisol was used as a biomarker to evaluate humans stress (Fekedulegn et al, 2012).…”