The impact of pre-natal stress on offspring development in pigs

Abstract

SUMMARYIn farm animals, restricted housing conditions or inadequate management practices during gestation may be potential stressors for the mother, with possible consequences on the growth, vitality, health and welfare of the dam and its offspring, and thus can have economic as well as ethical implications. The current review summarizes data from studies in pigs on the impact of maternal stress during gestation on the litter characteristics and phenotypic traits of offspring. The outcomes from the different experimental models using either maternal stress paradigms or artificially increased maternal cortisol are presented, and possible reasons for the consistent or divergent results are discussed. Maternal stress models are of particular importance, because social stress, restraint, rough handling and heat or cold stress are of practical relevance during housing of pregnant sows, whereas in other models the specific role of maternal cortisol as a mediator for pre-natal stress is studied. The data reveal that pre-natal stress in pigs can impair growth and modify the immune function, stress reactivity and behaviour of offspring. There is evidence that the materno-foetal cortisol regulation is a major determinant of the alterations in offspring. Neuroendocrine and behavioural data in the offspring indicate that pre-natally stressed pigs can express a modified phenotype characterized by increased reactivity of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, altered emotionality, more fearfulness in a novel environment and disturbed social and maternal behaviour. Further research is needed and should focus on the long-term consequences on immune function, reproductive traits and maternal behaviour in female offspring used as breeding animals.

Epigenetics and developmental programming of welfare and production traits in farm animals

“…Studies in cattle are very scarce, but Lay et al (1997) showed that repeated transportation of Brahman cows during gestation increased the cortisol response of the progeny to an acute restraint stress. Otten et al (2015) reviewed prenatal stress studies in pigs and concluded that fetal brain regions relating to HPA function appear highly vulnerable to maternal stress and many studies have demonstrated changes in HPA function in postnatal life as a consequence of PNS (e.g. Otten et al 2010).…”

“…Across several studies (for a review, see Otten et al 2015), maternal stress has been found to have a negative effect on various behavioural domains important for piglet productivity and welfare, including pain responses (Rutherford et al 2009), reactivity (Kranendonk et al 2006b;Otten et al 2007), social behaviour (Jarvis et al 2006;Kranendonk et al 2006b) and maternal behaviour (Jarvis et al 2006;Rutherford et al 2014). In the latter study (Rutherford et al 2014), impairment of maternal behaviour had a significant effect on survival in the next generation; under conditions (free farrowing) where gilts could fully express their maternal behaviour, litters born to mothers that had been prenatally stressed had threefold the mortality of litters born to control mothers.…”

Impact of maternal stress and nutrition on behavioural and physiological outcomes in young lambs

“…Partly this is of course because the field is relatively young and direct practical relevance is often not the primary motivation of those conducting the study. Based on these reviews, along with others recently conducted in cattle (Arnott et al 2012), poultry (Dixon et al 2016) and pigs (Otten et al 2015), where similar issues exist, it is possible to provide some suggestions for a way forward. These relate to: i) the choice of treatments, ii) the choice of outcome measures and iii) possible factors that may modify the effects of prenatal challenge on welfare outcomes.…”

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“…Estudios han mostrado que el manejo temprano de los animales incluida la estimulación táctil, tiene efectos positivos sobre su desarrollo físico y psicológico (Fernández-Teruel et al, 2002). Por otro lado, se ha visto que en roedores y en otras especies el periodo prenatal y posnatal es una etapa crítica en su desarrollo (Otten et al, 2015). Por ejemplo, se sabe que las experiencias adversas como el estrés durante…”

“…Fernández-Teruel et al, 2002). On the other hand, it has been observed that in rodents and other species, the pre-and post-natal periods are crucial steps in their development (Otten et al, 2015). Revista Bio Ciencias 7, e789.…”