Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T10:31:37.508Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Acute and long term effects of chronic intermittent noise stress on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical and sympatho-adrenomedullary axis in pigs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2016

W. Otten ,
E. Kanitz ,
B. Puppe ,
M. Tuchscherer ,
K.P. Brüssow ,
G. Nürnberg  and
B. Stabenow
W. Otten*
Affiliation:
Research Unit Behavioural Physiology
E. Kanitz
Affiliation:
Research Unit Behavioural Physiology
B. Puppe
Affiliation:
Research Unit Behavioural Physiology
M. Tuchscherer
Affiliation:
Research Unit Behavioural Physiology
K.P. Brüssow
Affiliation:
Research Unit Reproductive Biology
G. Nürnberg
Affiliation:
Research Unit Genetics and Biometry; Research Institute for the Biology of Farm Animals, 18196 Dummerstorf, Germany
B. Stabenow
Affiliation:
Research Unit Behavioural Physiology
*
†E-mail:[email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Noise is a potential environmental stressor and has also been identified as an aversive stimulus during animal housing. The impact of a 4-week chronic intermittent noise exposure on plasma adrenaline, noradrenaline, ACTH, cortisol and behaviour was studied in 24 male castrated German Landrace pigs. Three treatment groups were formed: N1 animals were subjected to a daily stimulation with broad-band noise (2 h, 90 dB(Lin)), N2 animals were subjected to the same stimulus three times a week and control animals were equally handled but experienced no noise exposure. Blood was serially sampled once a week via jugular vein catheters before, during and after a noise session. Behavioural observations of focal animals were performed by video technique. The first noise exposure of the animals caused no significant changes of stress hormone levels compared with the controls despite indices for more locomotion and less lying at the beginning of the noise stimulation, indicating that this noise stimulus is a rather mild stressor compared with other stimuli. The chronic intermittent noise stimulation, however, caused an increase of plasma ACTH and cortisol concentrations in the N1 animals after 4 days. The cortisol response of the N2 animals was unchanged compared to the controls at day 4, increased thereafter and at day 11 and 18 these animals tended to have higher cortisol levels compared with the controls. The noradrenaline/adrenaline ratio was significantly increased in N1 animals after 11 days and thereafter, whereas this ratio was unchanged in N2 animals until day 18, but also increased at day 25. In tendency, chronic intermittent noise exposure tended to reduce social behaviour and increase lying behaviour in both noise groups. In addition, the growth performance of pigs was negatively affected by the daily noise stimulation. In a second experiment with 16 male castrated German Landrace pigs, the impact of the daily intermittent noise exposure (N1) on the endocrine response to an acute stressor (restraint) and on the adrenocortical sensitivity to an ACTH challenge was studied. The time course of cortisol levels during the ACTH test indicated alterations in the time dynamics of the adrenocortical response with a more rapid response in the N1 animals. The results show that chronic intermittent noise exposure causes time-dependent alterations of the adrenocortical and sympathetic neural systems and may lead to behavioural suppression and growth retardation in pigs. Thus, repeated exposure of animals to noise levels over 90 dB should be avoided in pig husbandry to sustain productivity and animal welfare.

Keywords

behaviourhormonesnoisepigsstress
Type
Non-ruminant nutrition, behaviour and production
Information
Animal Science , Volume 78 , Issue 2 , April 2004 , pp. 271 - 283
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Algers, B., Ekesbo, I. and Strömberg, S. 1978. Noise measurements in farm animal environments. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 68: (suppl. ) 1–19.Google Scholar
Babisch, W., Fromme, H., Beyer, A. and Ising, H. 2001. Increased catecholamine levels in urine in subjects exposed to road traffic noise: the role of stress hormones in noise research. Environment International 26: 475–481.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boer, S. F. de, Gugten, J. van der and Slangen, J. L. 1989. Plasma catecholamine and corticosterone responses to predictable and unpredictable noise stress in rats. Physiology and Behavior 45: 789–795.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boer, S. F. de, Slangen, J. L. and Gugten, J. van der. 1988. Adaptation of plasma catecholamine and corticosterone responses to short-term repeated noise stress in rats. Physiology and Behavior 44: 273–280.Google Scholar
Brown, M. R. and Gray, T. S. 1988. Peptide injections into the amygdala of conscious rat: effects on blood pressure, heart rate and plasma catecholamines. Regulatory Peptides 21: 95–106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campeau, S., Akil, H. and Watson, S. J. 1997. Lesions of the medial geniculate nuclei specifically block corticosterone release and induction of c-fos m-RNA in the forebrain associated with audiogenic stress in rats. Journal of Neuroscience 17: 5979–5992.Google Scholar
Campeau, S. and Watson, S. J. 1997. Neuroendocrine and behavioral responses and brain pattern of c-fos induction associated with audiogenic stress. Journal of Neuroendocrinology 9: 577–588.Google Scholar
Dunn, A. J. and Berridge, C. W. 1990. Physiological and behavioral responses to corticotrophin releasing factor administration. Is CRF a mediator of anxiety or stress responses? Brain Research Reviews 15: 71–100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Engeland, W. C., Millar, P. and Gann, D. S. 1990. Pituitary-adrenal and adrenomedullary responses to noise in awake dogs. American Journal of Physiology 258: R672-677.Google Scholar
Fukuhara, K., Kvetnansky, R., Weise, V. K., Ohara, H., Yoneda, R., Goldstein, D. S. and Kopin, I. J. 1996. Effects of continuous and intermittent cold (SART) stress on sympathoadrenal system activity in rats. Journal of Neuroendocrinology 8: 65–72.Google Scholar
Gesi, M., Fornai, F., Lenzi, P., Natale, G., Soldani, P. and Paparelli, A. 2001. Time-dependent changes in adrenal cortex ultrastructure and corticosterone levels after noise exposure in male rats. European Journal of Morphology 39: 129–135.Google Scholar
Gesi, M., Lenzi, P., Alessandri, M. G., Ferrucci, M., Fornai, F. and Paparelli, A. 2002. Brief and repeated noise exposure produces different morphological and biochemical effects in noradrenaline and adrenaline cells of adrenal medulla. Journal of Anatomy 200: 159–168.Google Scholar
Geverink, N. A., Bühnemann, A., van de Burgwal, J. A., Lambooij, E., Blokhuis, H. J. and Wiegant, V. M. 1998. Responses of slaughter pigs to transport and lairage sounds. Physiology and Behavior 63: 667–673.Google Scholar
Heller, K. E. and Jeppesen, L. L. 1985. Behavioural and eosinophil leukocyte responses to single and repeated immobility stress in mink. Scientifur 9: 174–178.Google Scholar
Jensen, K. H., Pedersen, L. J., Nielsen, E. K., Heller, K. E., Ladewig, J. and Jorgensen, E. 1996. Intermittent stress in pigs: effects on behavior, pituitary-adrenocortical axis, growth, and gastric ulceration. Physiology and Behavior 59: 741–748.Google Scholar
Kanitz, E., Otten, W., Nürnberg, G. and Brüssow, K. P. 1999. Effects of age and maternal reactivity on the stress response of the pituitary-adrenocortical axis and the sympathetic nervous system in neonatal pigs. Animal Science 68: 519–526.Google Scholar
Kemper, A., Wildenhahn, V. and Lyhs, L. 1976a. Der Verlauf der Plasmakonzentrationen an Katecholaminen und Kortikosteroiden sowie des plasmagebundenen Jods (PBJ) bei Schweinen unter Einwirkung von Geräuschen bei verschiedenen Haltungsformen. Archiv für Experimentelle Veterinärmedizin 30: 309–315.Google Scholar
Kemper, A., Wildenhahn, V. and Lyhs, L. 1976b. Die Einwirkung lang anhaltender Geräusche auf die Plasmakonzentration an Katecholaminen, Glukokortikosteroiden und PBJ bei Schweinen. Archiv für Experimentelle Veterinärmedizin 30: 619–625.Google Scholar
Moberg, G. P. 2000. Biological response to stress: implications for animal welfare. In The biology of animal stress (ed. Moberg, G. P. and Mench, J. A.), pp. 1–21. CABI Publishing, Wallingford.Google Scholar
Noldus Information Technology. 1993. THE OBSERVER, base package for DOS, reference manual, version 3.0 edition. NIT, Wageningen.Google Scholar
Otten, W., Puppe, B., Kanitz, E., Schön, P. C. and Stabenow, B. 1999. Effects of dominance and familiarity on behaviour and plasma stress hormones in growing pigs during social confrontation. Journal of Veterinary Medicine Series A 46: 277–292.Google Scholar
Otten, W., Puppe, B., Stabenow, B., Kanitz, E., Schön, P. C., Brüssow, K. P. and Nürnberg, G. 1997. Agonistic interactions and physiological reactions of top and bottom ranking pigs confronted with a familiar and an unfamiliar group: preliminary results. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 55: 79–90.Google Scholar
Ottenweller, J. E., Natelson, B. H., Pitman, D. L. and Drastal, S.D. 1989. Adrenocortical and behavioral responses to repeated stressors: toward an animal model of chronic stress and stress-related mental illness. Biological Psychiatry 26: 829–841.Google Scholar
Puppe, B. 1998. Effects of familiarity and relatedness on agonistic pair relationships in newly mixed domestic pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 58: 233–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quirk, G. J., Armony, J. L. and LeDoux, J. E. 1997. Fear conditioning enhances different temporal components of tone-evoked spike trains in auditory cortex and lateral amygdala. Neuron 19: 613–624.Google Scholar
Raaij, M. T. M. van, Dobbe, C. J. G., Elvers, B., Timmerman, A., Schenk, E., Oortigiesen, M. and Wiegant, V. M. 1997. Hormonal status and the neuroendocrine response to a novel heterotypic stressor involving subchronic noise exposure. Neuroendocrinology 65: 200–209.Google Scholar
Raaij, M. T. M. van, Oortgiesen, M., Timmerman, H. H., Dobbe, C. J. G. and Loveren, H. van. 1996. Time-dependent differential changes of immune function in rats exposed to chronic intermittent noise. Physiology and Behavior 60: 1527–1533.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rodriguez, H. and Kunavongkrit, A. 1983. Chronic venous catheterisation for frequent blood sampling in unrestrained pigs. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 24: 318–320.Google Scholar
Schäffer, D., Marquardt, V., Marx, G. and Borell, E. von. 2001. Noise in animal housing – a review with emphasis on pig housing. Deutsche Tierärztliche Wochenschrift 108: 60–66.Google Scholar
Segal, D. S., Kuczenski, R. and Swick, D. 1989. Audiogenic stress response: behavioral characteristics and underlying monoamine mechanisms. Journal of Neural Transmission 75: 31–50.Google Scholar
Sgoifo, A., Boer, S. F. de, Haller, J. and Koolhaas, J. M. 1996. Individual differences in plasma catecholamine and corticosterone stress responses of wild-type rats: relationship with aggression. Physiology and Behavior 60: 1403–1407.Google Scholar
Singewald, N., Kaehler, S. T. and Philippu, A. 1999. Noradrenaline release in the locus coeruleus of conscious rats is triggered by drugs, stress and blood pressure changes. Neuroreport 10: 1583–1587.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Statistical Analysis Systems Institute. 1999. SAS/STAT user guide, version 8. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC.Google Scholar
Sudha, S. and Pradhan, N. 1993. Behavioral consequences of predictable vs. unpredictable shocks in rats. Physiology and Behavior 54: 243–247.Google Scholar
Talling, J. C., Lines, J. A., Wathes, C. M. and Waran, N. K. 1998a. The acoustic environment of the domestic pig. Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research 71: 1–12.Google Scholar
Talling, J. C., Waran, N. K., Wathes, C. M. and Lines, J. A. 1996. Behavioural and physiological responses of pigs to sound. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 48: 187–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Talling, J. C., Waran, N. K., Wathes, C. M. and Lines, J. A. 1998b. Sound avoidance by domestic pigs depends upon characteristics of the signal. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 58: 255–266.Google Scholar
Ward, M. M., Mefford, I. N., Parker, S.D., Chesney, M. A., Taylor, C. B., Keegan, D. L. and Barchas, J. D. 1983. Epinephrine and norepinephrine responses in continuously collected human plasma to a series of stressors. Psychosomatic Medicine 45: 471–486.Google Scholar