Browsing by Author "Muns Vila, Ramon"
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Item Blood and faecal biomarkers to assess dietary energy, protein and amino acid efficiency of utilization by growing and finishing pigs.(Springer, 2022-07-04) Camp Montoro, Jordi; Sola-Oriol, David; Muns Vila, Ramon; Gasa, Josep; Llanes, Nuria; Manzanilla, Edgar GarciaBackground: Diet evaluation and optimization is a slow and expensive process and it is not possible to do it at a farm level. This study aimed to use the blood serum metabolite (BSM) and faecal volatile fatty acid (VFA) profles as potential biomarkers to identify changes in protein, amino acid and energy dietary content in growing and fnishing pig diets at farm level. Results: Two studies were conducted. The frst study (S1) included 20 pens of 11 pigs (87.0±4.10 kg; 18 weeks old) assigned to 5 diets: control (C1), high or low crude protein (HP1 and LP1, respectively), and high or low net energy (HE1 and LE1, respectively). The second study (S2) included 28 pens of 11 pigs (41.3±2.60 kg; 12 weeks old) assigned to 7 diets: control (C2), high or low crude protein (HP2 and LP2, respectively), high or low amino acid (HA2 and LA2, respectively), and high or low net energy (HE2 and LE2, respectively). Pigs were followed for 10 (S1) and 20 (S2) days, and blood and faecal samples were collected at 20 (S1) and 14 (S2) weeks of age. Data were analysed using gen‑ eral linear models and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Urea nitrogen showed the best results as a biomarker. Urea nitrogen was higher in pigs fed high protein diets, HP1 (13.6±0.95 mg/dL) and HP2 (11.6±0.61), compared to those fed low protein diets, LP1 (6.0±0.95) and LP2 (5.2±0.61; P<0.001), showing good discrimination ability (Area under the curve (AUC)=98.4 and 100%, respectively). These diferences were not observed between diets LA2 (6.5±0.61) and HA2 (8.7±0.61; P>0.05; AUC=71.9%), which were formulated based on the ideal protein profle but with no excess of protein. Creatinine, triglycerides, branched-chain fatty acids, albumin, propionic acid, and cholesterol showed diferences between at least 2 diets but only in one of the studies. Conclusions: Urea nitrogen showed high accuracy to detect excess of crude protein in growing and fnishing pig diets. Other biomarkers like BCFA showed promising results and need to be further studied.Item Consequences of timing of organic enrichment provision on pig performance, health and stress resilience after weaning and regrouping(Elsevier, 2022-09-29) Buckova, K.; Muns Vila, Ramon; Ceron, J.; Kyriazakis, I.Most pigs in slatted systems are provided with enrichment meeting only minimum legal requirements. We aimed to explore the effects of a novel enrichment treatment consisting of daily provided fodder beet and jute bags for pigs in slatted systems, and investigate the timing of enrichment provision on performance, health and stress resilience. We used 280 weaners allocated into standard (S, meeting only legal requirements consisting of a plastic toy and softwood) or enriched (E) treatment (n = 14 groups/treatment). At regrouping during the grower to finisher transition, pigs were either kept in the same treatment (EE, SS) or switched from enriched to standard (ES) and vice versa (SE); each treatment was replicated on five groups. Pigs were weighted at the start and end of weaner, and finisher stage, and feed intake was recorded. Occurrence of scouring, respiratory problems, locomotor disorders, tail, ear, and body lesions were recorded twice a week. Ten males per treatment were sampled for saliva on days 1, 2 and 4, either postweaning or after the housing switch. Saliva samples were analysed for cortisol, alpha-amylase, haptoglobin (Hp), and adenosine deaminase. Additionally, these pigs were sampled for hair at the start and end of weaner, and end of finisher stage to analyse for hair cortisol and cortisone. We found that E weaners consumed less feed (P = 0.04), had better FCR (feed conversion ratio, P = 0.03) and less ear lesions for two weeks postweaning (P = 0.04), and tended to have lower occurrence of scouring (P = 0.07) and higher salivary cortisol concentrations (P = 0.09) than S weaners. Effects of enrichment treatment during weaner stage on performance were carried through to finisher stage, with EE and ES pigs having better FCR (P = 0.0009) and higher BW (P = 0.0001) compared to SS and SE pigs. E treatment during finisher stage decreased feed intake (P = 0.04) and tended to decrease Hp levels (P = 0.07). There was a significant interaction between enrichment treatments during weaner and finisher stages on finisher body lesions: EE finishers had less lesions than SS, ES, and SE finishers (P = 0.04). There were no other significant differences caused either by enrichment treatment during weaner/finisher stage or their interaction. We conclude that the novel enrichment applied at weaner stage had positive effects on ear lesions and performance, which were carried through to finisher stage. Body lesions were affected by its application during both stages, with finishers receiving the enrichment treatment throughout (EE) having reduced body lesions than the rest of the finishers.Item Effect of Phase Feeding, Space Allowance and Mixing on Productive Performance of Grower-Finisher Pigs(MDPI, 2022-02-07) Montoro, Jordi Camp; Pessoa, Joana; Solá-Oriol, David; Muns Vila, Ramon; Gasa, Josep; Manzanilla, Edgar GarciaThis study investigates the effects of space allowance (SA), mixing and phase feeding (PF) on performance of grower-finisher pigs. Three trials (T) were conducted. In T1 and T2, 345 pigs/trial were moved to finisher stage at 11 weeks of age and assigned to two SAs: 0.96 (n = 15 pens; 10 pigs/pen) and 0.78 (n = 15; 13 pigs/pen) m2/pig. Mixing was applied to 5 pens of each SA leading to a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement (SA × Mixing). For PF, 2 diets with 0.95 and 0.82 g SID Lys/MJ NE were applied to 5 pens of each SA (not mixed) leading to another 2 × 2 factorial arrangement (SA × PF). In T3, 230 pigs were moved to the grower-finisher stage at 11 weeks of age, mixed, and assigned to 4 treatments (SA × PF; n = 5 pens). Data were analyzed using general linear mixed models. SA did not affect performance (p > 0.05). Non-mixed pigs were 5.40 (T1) and 5.25 (T2) kg heavier than mixed pigs at 21 weeks of age (p < 0.001). PF reduced performance of pigs by 3.45 (T1) and 4.05 (T2) kg at 21 weeks of age (p < 0.001). In conclusion, mixing and reducing SID Lys:NE ratio from 0.95 to 0.82 g/MJ at 15–16 weeks of age, have a more marked impact on performance than reducing SA from 0.96 to 0.78 m2/pig.Item Effect of reduced dietary protein level on finishing pigs’ harmful social behaviour before and after an abrupt dietary change.(Elsevier, 2022-10-06) McAuley, Melanie; Buijs, Stephanie; Muns Vila, Ramon; Gordon, Alan Wesley; Palmer, Maeve; Meek, Kayleigh; O'Connell, NiamhTail biting in pigs is a harmful behavioural disorder that negatively affects their welfare. Nutrition has played a crucial role in improving farm efficiency; however, an imbalance in key nutrients is an accepted risk factor for tail biting. The exact contributing factors and the level of risk associated with inadequate nutrition remain unclear. We aimed to assess the effect of dietary protein level on harmful social behaviours in finishing pigs before and after an abrupt dietary change. A total of 80 pigs (Duroc x (Landrace x Large White)) were assigned to this trial over two batches. Pigs were housed in mixed sex groups of 10 and assigned to one of two treatments at 12 weeks of age. These consisted of a control treatment (CON) containing 15.5% Crude Protein (CP) and a low CP treatment (LowCP) containing 13.5% CP. The abrupt dietary change occurred at 16 weeks of age (71.45 kg) in batch 1 and at 15 weeks of age (67.04 kg) in batch 2. This change in diet led to a 1.2% drop in CP in the CON treatment and a 1.4% drop in CP in the LowCP treatment. Behavioural observations were performed before and after the diet change and largely focused on the pigs' social behaviour. Using a "hurdle" model analysis, we investigated whether diet, diet change or sex influenced: 1) the probability that a behaviour was not performed, and 2) the frequency and/or duration when the behaviour was performed. The LowCP treatment led to an increased duration of limb-directed behaviour (P = 0.03) when performed at all, and also an increased duration of ‘tail-in-mouth’ behaviour (P = 0.02) in males but not females. However, LowCP did not affect the level of ear-directed behaviours in this way (P > 0.05). An increase in standing frequency occurred after the abrupt diet change (P = 0.04). Our study indicates that a small reduction in dietary protein and sex affect behaviour in the finishing phase, with some impacts on important harmful social behaviours. Furthermore, an effect of abrupt diet change on behaviour is suggested, which will require further confirmation.Item Improving vitamin D content in pork meat by UVB biofortification(Elsevier, 2023-02-06) Neill, H.R.; Gill, C.I.R.; McDonald, E.J.; McMurray, R.; McRoberts, W. Colin; Loy, Ruth A.; White, Catherine Alison; Little, Richard J.; Muns Vila, Ramon; Rosbotham, E.J.; O'Neill, U.; Smyth, S.,; Pourshahidi, L.K.Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent worldwide and identification of alternative food-based strategies are urgently warranted. In two studies, 12-week old crossbred pigs (Duroc x (Large White x Landrace)) were exposed daily to narrowband UVB radiation for ∼10 weeks or control (no UVB exposure) until slaughter. In Study 1 (n = 48), pigs were exposed to UVB for 2 min and in Study 2 (n = 20), this duration was tripled to 6 min. All pigs were fed the maximum permitted 2000 IU vitamin D3/kg feed. Loin meat was cooked prior to vitamin D LC-MS/MS analysis. In Study 1, pork loin vitamin D3 did not differ between groups. Study 2 provided longer UVB exposure time and resulted in significantly higher loin vitamin D3 (11.97 vs. 6.03 μg/kg), 25(OH)D3 (2.09 vs. 1.65 μg/kg) and total vitamin D activity (22.88 vs. 14.50 μg/kg) concentrations, compared to control (P < 0.05). Pigs remained healthy during both studies and developed no signs of erythema. Biofortification by UVB radiation provides an effective strategy to further safely increase the naturally occurring vitamin D content of pork loin, alongside feed supplementationItem Parturition in mammals: animal models, pain, and distres(MDPI, 2021-10-14) Martinez-Burnes, Julio; Muns Vila, Ramon; Barrios-Garcia, Hugo; Villanueva-Garcia, Dina; Dominguez-Oliva, Adriana; Mota-Rojas, DanielParturition is a complex physiological process and involves many hormonal, morphological, physiological, and behavioural changes. Labour is a crucial moment for numerous species and is usually the most painful experience in females. Contrary to the extensive research in humans, there are limited pain studies associated with the birth process in domestic animals. Nonetheless, awareness of parturition has increased among the public, owners, and the scientific community during recent years. Dystocia is a significant factor that increases the level of parturition pain. It is considered less common in polytocous species because newborns’ number and small size might lead to the belief that the parturition process is less painful than in monotocous animal species and humans. This review aims to provide elements of the current knowledge about human labour pain (monotocous species), the relevant contribution of the rat model to human labour pain, and the current clinical and experimental knowledge of parturition pain mechanisms in domestic animals that support the fact that domestic polytocous species also experience pain. Moreover, both for women and domestic animal species, parturition’s pain represents a potential welfare concern, and information on pain indicators and the appropriate analgesic therapy are discussedItem Pathophysiology of Perinatal Asphyxia in Humans and Animal Models(MDPI, 2022-02-01) Mota-Rojas, Daniel; Villanueva-Garcia, Dina; Solimano, Alfonso; Muns Vila, Ramon; Ibarra-Ross, Daniel; Mota-Reyes, AndreaPerinatal asphyxia is caused by lack of oxygen delivery (hypoxia) to end organs due to an hypoxemic or ischemic insult occurring in temporal proximity to labor (peripartum) or delivery (intrapartum). Hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy is the clinical manifestation of hypoxic injury to the brain and is usually graded as mild, moderate, or severe. The search for useful biomarkers to precisely predict the severity of lesions in perinatal asphyxia and hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a field of increasing interest. As pathophysiology is not fully comprehended, the gold standard for treatment remains an active area of research. Hypothermia has proven to be an effective neuroprotective strategy and has been implemented in clinical routine. Current studies are exploring various add-on therapies, including erythropoietin, xenon, topiramate, melatonin, and stem cells. This review aims to perform an updated integration of the pathophysiological processes after perinatal asphyxia in humans and animal models to allow us to answer some questions and provide an interim update on progress in this field.