Effects of γ-aminobutyric acid on aggressive behaviour, jejunum villus morphology, serum biochemical indicators and hippocampal neuropeptide mRNA levels in piglets at weaning with mixing

Hongyuan Mei, Chengying Yang, Qing Xie, Yang Yang, Xianmei Luo, Hanwei Jiao and Ling Gan
Additional contact information
Hongyuan Mei: Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Animal Science, Southwest University, Chongqing, P.R. China
Chengying Yang: Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Animal Science, Southwest University, Chongqing, P.R. China
Qing Xie: Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Animal Science, Southwest University, Chongqing, P.R. China
Yang Yang: Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Animal Science, Southwest University, Chongqing, P.R. China
Xianmei Luo: Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Animal Science, Southwest University, Chongqing, P.R. China
Hanwei Jiao: Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Animal Science, Southwest University, Chongqing, P.R. China

Czech Journal of Animal Science, 2019, vol. 64, issue 4, 151-159

Abstract: The effects of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on weanling piglets after mixing stress were investigated and the underlying molecular mechanism was analyzed. Sixty weaning piglets were randomly assigned to either the control group (weaning and mixing with a 3 : 3 sex ratio) or the GABA supplement group (30 mg GABA/kg body weight/day + weaning and mixing with a 3 : 3 sex ratio). Aggressive behaviours have been recorded for 2 days and the number of lesions for 3 days. The diarrhea rate on day 6 post-weaning and mixing was analyzed. Serum biochemical indicators, antioxidant variables, jejunum villus morphology and mRNA levels of stress-related neuropeptide genes of the hippocampus were investigated. The GABA addition decreased serum adrenocorticotropic hormone concentrations (P < 0.05), aggressive behaviours of weaned piglets 5 h after mixing (P < 0.05), lesion scores over the entire 3-day period (P < 0.01) and diarrhea rate (P < 0.01) and improved jejunum villus integrity. Serum neuropeptide Y (NPY) concentration (P < 0.05) and total superoxide dismutase activity (P < 0.01) were increased in the GABA supplement group, whereas serum malondialdehyde concentration had a decreasing tendency (0.05 < P < 0.1), and glutathione peroxidase activity had an increasing tendency (0.05 < P < 0.1). The GABA treatment group had increased mRNA levels of NPY (P < 0.05) and peptide YY (PYY) (P < 0.05) in the hippocampus, which may contribute to insights into the regulatory mechanism of GABA in weaning and mixing stress. The addition of GABA is beneficial to reduce weaning and mixing stress in piglets, and NPY and PYY may mediate the process.

Keywords: weaning and mixing stress; aggression; oxidation resistance; villus integrity; growth; neuropeptide Y (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/33/2018-CJAS.html (text/html)
http://cjas.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/33/2018-CJAS.pdf (application/pdf)
free of charge

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:caa:jnlcjs:v:64:y:2019:i:4:id:33-2018-cjas

DOI: 10.17221/33/2018-CJAS

Access Statistics for this article

Czech Journal of Animal Science is currently edited by Bc. Michaela Polcarová

More articles in Czech Journal of Animal Science from Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Ivo Andrle ().