Neurophysiological development of newborn pigs: effect of the sow’s parity number in eutocic farrowings

The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of sow parity on neonatal piglet health and vitality at birth. We evaluated 1505 neonate piglets, which were born of York–Landrace sows with the following parity distribution: primiparous (n = 202), second (n = 207), third (n = 211), fourth (n = 222), fifth (n = 225), sixth (n = 218) and seventh parity (n = 220). Piglets born to primiparous and seventh-parity sows had the lowest and highest birthweights respectively, and showed the most marked imbalances in blood gas exchanges, acid–base balance and energy profiles, as well as the highest percentage of severe meconium staining of the skin and the lowest vitality scores (P < 0.05). In contrast, the neonates from the fourth-parity sows had the highest vitality scores, required less time to reach the mother’s teat, and had the highest percentage of adhered umbilical cords and newborns with dyspnoea, apnoea and abnormal heartbeat (P < 0.05). The results of this study suggest that during eutocic farrowings, the sow’s parity number has the following effects on newborn piglets: reduced vigour and longer latencies to begin breathing, stand and take the teat. These effects are due to the presence of imbalances in gas exchanges, the acid–base balance and energy profiles that occurred when the mother was a primiparous or older sow. These signs indicate that the newborn piglet survived a process of intrapartum asphyxia.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Thermal Imaging to Assess the Health Status in Wildlife Animals under Human Care: Limitations and Perspectives

Ensuring the welfare of wildlife under human care requires tools to monitor their health and well-being. Infrared thermography is a non-invasive technique for assessing thermal states that measure the radiation emitted from the skin in distinct anatomical areas, known as thermal windows—anatomical regions with abundant capillaries and arteriovenous anastomosis that facilitate heat exchange with the environment. However, thermal windows for wildlife species have not yet been established due to the different characteristics of their skin, coats, fur, or coloring. This review discusses published information on the usefulness of the ocular, nasal, thoracic, abdominal, and podal anatomical regions as thermal windows for evaluating these animals’ thermal responses and health status and monitoring habitat design. Another aspect that must be considered for wildlife under human care is the limitations of distinct species due to differences between animals and critical factors. Future studies should focus on establishing a precise application for each thermal window according to the specific characteristics of distinct animal species

Assessment of Pain and Inflammation in Domestic Animals Using Infrared Thermography: A Narrative Review

Pain assessment in domestic animals has gained importance in recent years due to the recognition of the physiological, behavioral, and endocrine consequences of acute pain on animal production, welfare, and animal model validity. Current approaches to identifying acute pain mainly rely on behavioral-based scales, quantifying pain-related biomarkers, and the use of devices monitoring sympathetic activity. Infrared thermography is an alternative that could be used to correlate the changes in the superficial temperature with other tools and thus be an additional or alternate acute pain assessment marker. Moreover, its non-invasiveness and the objective nature of its readout make it potentially very valuable. However, at the current time, it is not in widespread use as an assessment strategy. The present review discusses scientific evidence for infrared thermography as a tool to evaluate pain, limiting its use to monitor acute pain in pathological processes and invasive procedures, as well as its use for perioperative monitoring in domestic animals.Alexandra L. Whittaker, Ramon Muns, Dehua Wang, Julio Martínez-Burnes, Ismael Hernández-Ávalos, Alejandro Casas-Alvarado, Adriana Domínguez-Oliva, and Daniel Mota-Roja

Prevalencia y factores asociados a la urticaria crónica.Análisis de la rinitis alérgica y los síntomas relacionados con el asma como factores asociados a la urticaria crónica en un área urbana del noreste de México

Antecedentes: La urticaria crónica es una enfermedad de origen desconocido difícil de tratar. Objetivos: Determinar la prevalencia, factores asociados y grado de participación de la rinitis alérgica y de los síntomas relacionados con el asma en la presentación de la urticaria crónica. Material y métodos: Se distribuyó un cuestionario a 3.000 personas de ambos sexos de 20 a 50 años de edad elegidas al azar. La muestra se dividió en dos grupos, uno con enfermos y otro con sanos. Es un estudio de casos y controles, retrospectivo, abierto y transversal. Resultados: Se obtuvo información completa de 2.613 cuestionarios con una frecuencia de respuestas del 87,1%. En esta población, 788 personas refirieron padecer o haber padecido urticaria alguna vez en su vida. La prevalencia de urticaria crónica fue del 3,4%; entre los afectados predominó el sexo femenino (67,8%; OR = 1,44, p = NS), en el 14,4% de los casos los síntomas persistían durante la noche y en el 18,9% los exacerbaba el ejercicio físico. Los posibles desencadenantes registrados fueron los alimentos (10% p = NS) y los medicamentos (8,9%, p = NS) y el 81,1% desconocían la causa. El 62,2% de los afectados tenían antecedentes familiares de alergia (OR = 2,51), el 53,3% sufrían rinitis alérgica (OR = 1,81), el 32,2% sibilancias (OR = 2,10) y el 26,7% tos seca (OR = 1,62). Conclusiones: Los resultados demuestran que la prevalencia de urticaria crónica en más elevada que la publicada por otros autores. Además se observó que los antecedentes familiares de alergia o personales de rinitis alérgica o de síntomas relacionados con el asma pueden tener relación con la presentación de urticaria crónica en el noreste de México

Microscopic changes induced by the intratracheal inoculation of amniotic fluid and meconium in the lung of neonatal rats

Meconium aspiration syndrome is a major contributor to neonatal respiratory distress in infants and it has been sporadically recognized in neonatal animals. This investigation was designed to study the short and long term effects of meconium and amniotic fluid in the lungs of neonatal rats. Seven-day-old rats (n=123) divided in three groups were intratracheally inoculated with saline solution, amniotic fluid or meconium. Rats were euthanatized on 1, 3, 7, 14, 28, 56 and 112 postinoculation days (PID) and the lungs were examined by light microscopy. Saline solution did not induce any change while amniotic fluid elicited only a mild foreign body response which disappeared by PID 14. In contrast, meconium induced an exudative alveolitis characterized by recruitment of neutrophilsn in the bronchoalveolar spaces. Meconium also induced atelectasis, hyperinflation and thickening of alveolar septa all of which had disappeared by PID 14. Starting at PID 7, neutrophils were progressively replaced by macrophages, giant cells, and some fibroblasts. There were sporadic foci of mineralization starting at PID 14 and lasting up to PID 112. Some mineralized foci became lined with cuboidal epithelial cells at PID 28. Meconium was slowly degraded but still evident by PID 112. It was concluded that inoculation of meconium in neonatal rats induces acute microscopic changes typical of meconium aspiration syndrome. The long term lesions induced by meconium consisted of persistent multifocal histiocytic alveolitis and bronchiolitis reaction with occasional foci of calcification

The utility of grimace scales for practical pain assessment in laboratory animals

Animals’ facial expressions are widely used as a readout for emotion. Scientific interest in the facial expressions of laboratory animals has centered primarily on negative experiences, such as pain, experienced as a result of scientific research procedures. Recent attempts to standardize evaluation of facial expressions associated with pain in laboratory animals has culminated in the development of “grimace scales”. The prevention or relief of pain in laboratory animals is a fundamental requirement for in vivo research to satisfy community expectations. However, to date it appears that the grimace scales have not seen widespread implementation as clinical pain assessment techniques in biomedical research. In this review, we discuss some of the barriers to implementation of the scales in clinical laboratory animal medicine, progress made in automation of collection, and suggest avenues for future research.Daniel Mota-Rojas, Adriana Olmos-Hernández, Antonio Verduzco-Mendoza, Elein Hernández, Julio Martínez-Burnes, and Alexandra L. Whittake