Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T03:56:41.308Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Providing straw to allow exploratory behaviour in a pig experimental system does not modify putative indicators of positive welfare: peripheral oxytocin and serotonin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2018

M. Marcet Rius ,
A. Cozzi ,
C. Bienboire-Frosini ,
E. Teruel ,
C. Chabaud ,
P. Monneret ,
J. Leclercq ,
C. Lafont-Lecuelle  and
P. Pageat
M. Marcet Rius*
Affiliation:
Department of Physiological and Behavioural Mechanisms of Adaptation, Research Institute in Semiochemistry and Applied Ethology (IRSEA), Quartier Salignan, 84400 Apt, France
A. Cozzi
Affiliation:
Department of Physiological and Behavioural Mechanisms of Adaptation, Research Institute in Semiochemistry and Applied Ethology (IRSEA), Quartier Salignan, 84400 Apt, France
C. Bienboire-Frosini
Affiliation:
Department of Physiological and Behavioural Mechanisms of Adaptation, Research Institute in Semiochemistry and Applied Ethology (IRSEA), Quartier Salignan, 84400 Apt, France
E. Teruel
Affiliation:
Department of Physiological and Behavioural Mechanisms of Adaptation, Research Institute in Semiochemistry and Applied Ethology (IRSEA), Quartier Salignan, 84400 Apt, France
C. Chabaud
Affiliation:
Department of Physiological and Behavioural Mechanisms of Adaptation, Research Institute in Semiochemistry and Applied Ethology (IRSEA), Quartier Salignan, 84400 Apt, France
P. Monneret
Affiliation:
Department of Physiological and Behavioural Mechanisms of Adaptation, Research Institute in Semiochemistry and Applied Ethology (IRSEA), Quartier Salignan, 84400 Apt, France
J. Leclercq
Affiliation:
Department of Physiological and Behavioural Mechanisms of Adaptation, Research Institute in Semiochemistry and Applied Ethology (IRSEA), Quartier Salignan, 84400 Apt, France
C. Lafont-Lecuelle
Affiliation:
Department of Physiological and Behavioural Mechanisms of Adaptation, Research Institute in Semiochemistry and Applied Ethology (IRSEA), Quartier Salignan, 84400 Apt, France
P. Pageat
Affiliation:
Department of Physiological and Behavioural Mechanisms of Adaptation, Research Institute in Semiochemistry and Applied Ethology (IRSEA), Quartier Salignan, 84400 Apt, France
*
†E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Numerous studies have shown that providing straw to pigs can reduce undesirable behaviours such as aggression, tail biting and stereotypy. The measurement of various neuromodulators can be helpful in assessing the development of positive behaviours and overall animal welfare. The oxytocin release is frequently linked to positive emotions and positive welfare. It has been suggested that oxytocin modulates the serotoninergic system. This study aims to investigate the potential effect of straw provision in pigs on peripheral levels of oxytocin and serotonin. In total, 18 mini-pigs were involved in an exploratory study conducted in two parallel groups, Enriched (n=10) and Control (n=8) groups. Pigs were divided by group and housed in pens of two individuals. Straw was provided continuously only in Enriched group and renewed each day for 2 weeks. Two blood samples were drawn from each animal 5 to 10 min before providing the straw, and 15 min after providing straw, during the 1st week, to analyse peripheral changes in oxytocin and serotonin before and after straw provision, and determine the existence of a putative short-term effect. The same procedure was carried out for Control group, without straw provision. Long-term effects of straw provision were also examined using blood samples drawn at the same hour from each animal in the 2nd and 3rd weeks. During this time, animals had the permanent possibility to explore the straw in Enriched group but not in Control group. At the end of each week, one animal-keeper completed two visual analogue scales for each mini-pig regarding the difficulty/ease to work with and handle it and its trust in humans. Results showed peripheral oxytocin increases in both groups after 2 weeks (P=0.02). Results did not demonstrate any effect of providing straw to allow exploratory behaviour on peripheral serotonin. Other results were not significant. This preliminary study explored the relationship between peripheral oxytocin and serotonin and the presence of straw that allow pigs to perform exploratory behaviour, suggesting that there was no relationship between them. Some future studies may include crossing oxytocin and serotonin with other parameters, such as behavioural measures, to obtain more information about the true state of the animal and any possible relationship with pig welfare.

Keywords

positive measures of animal welfareoxytocinserotoninexploratory-rooting behaviourbehavioural needs
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 12 , Issue 10 , October 2018 , pp. 2138 - 2146
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2018 

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

Bienboire-Frosini, C, Chabaud, C, Cozzi, A, Codecasa, E and Pageat, P 2017. Validation of a commercially available enzyme ImmunoAssay for the determination of oxytocin in plasma samples from seven domestic animal species. Frontiers in Neuroscience 11, 524.Google Scholar
Boissy, A, Manteuffel, G, Jensen, MB, Moe, RO, Spruijt, B, Keeling, LJ, Winckler, C, Forkman, B, Dimitrov, I, Langbein, J, Bakken, M, Veissier, I and Aubert, A 2007. Assessment of positive emotions in animals to improve their welfare. Physiology and Behavior 92, 375–397.Google Scholar
Broom, DM and Johnson, KG 1993. Stress and animal welfare. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, London, UK.Google Scholar
Broom, DM and Zanella, AJ 2004. Brain measures which tell us about animal welfare. Animal Welfare 13, S41–S45.Google Scholar
Burbidge, JA, Spoolder, HAM, Lawrence, AB, Simmins, PH and Edwards, SA 1994. The effect of feeding regime and the provision of a foraging substrate on the development of behaviours in group-housed sows. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 40, 72.Google Scholar
Caroprese, M, Napolitano, F, Albenzio, M, Annicchiarico, G, Musto, M and Sevi, A 2006. Influence of gentling on lamb immune response and human-lamb interactions. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 99, 118–131.Google Scholar
Casal, N, Manteca, X, Escribano, D, Cerón, JJ and Fàbrega, E 2016. Effect of environmental enrichment and herbal compound supplementation on physiological stress indicators (chromogranin A, cortisol and tumour necrosis factor-α) in growing pigs. Animal 11, 1228–1236.Google Scholar
Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use 2015. Guideline on adjustment for baseline covariates in clinical trials. European Medicines Agency, London, UK.Google Scholar
Crockford, C, Deschner, T, Ziegler, TE and Wittig, RM 2014. Endogenous peripheral oxytocin measures can give insight into the dynamics of social relationships: a review. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 8, 68.Google Scholar
Duncan, IJH 2005. Science-based assessment of animal welfare: farm animals. Revue scientifique et technique (International Office of Epizootics) 24, 483–492.Google Scholar
Eaton, JL, Roache, L, Nguyen, KN, Cushing, BS, Troyer, E, Papademetriou, E and Raghanti, MA 2012. Organizational effects of oxytocin on serotonin innervation. Developmental Psychobiology 54, 92–97.Google Scholar
Farm Animal Welfare Council 2009. Farm animal welfare in Great Britain: past, present and future. FAWC, London, UK.Google Scholar
Fries, ABW, Ziegler, TE, Kurian, JR, Jacoris, S and Pollak, SD 2005. Early experience in humans is associated with changes in neuropeptides critical for regulating social behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 102, 17237–17240.Google Scholar
Insel, TR and Winslow, JT 1998. Serotonin and neuropeptides in affiliative behaviors. Biological Psychiatry 44, 207–219.Google Scholar
Ishak, WW, Kahloon, M and Fakhry, H 2011. Oxytocin role in enhancing well-being: a literature review. Journal of Affective Disorders 130, 1–9.Google Scholar
Landgraf, R and Neumann, ID 2004. Vasopressin and oxytocin release within the brain: a dynamic concept of multiple and variable modes of neuropeptide communication. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology 25, 150–176.Google Scholar
Landsberg, G, Hunthaussen, W and Ackerman, L 2013. Behavior problems of the dog & cat. Saunders Ltd, Philadelphia, PA, USA.Google Scholar
Lee, HJ, Macbeth, AH, Pagani, JH and Scott Young, W 2009. Oxytocin: the great facilitator of life. Progress in Neurobiology 88, 127–151.Google Scholar
Ludwig, M and Leng, G 2006. Dendritic peptide release and peptide-dependent behaviours. Nature Reviews. Neuroscience 7, 126–136.Google Scholar
Martin, P and Bateson, P 2007. Measuring behaviour, an introductory guide. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.Google Scholar
Mottolese, R, Redouté, J, Costes, N, Le, D and Sirigu, A 2014. Switching brain serotonin with oxytocin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 111, 8637–8642.Google Scholar
Noller, CM, Szeto, A, Mendez, AJ, Llabre, MM, Gonzales, JA, Rossetti, MA, Schneiderman, N and McCabe, PM 2013. The influence of social environment on endocrine, cardiovascular and tissue responses in the rabbit. International Journal of Psychophysiology 88, 282–288.Google Scholar
Olff, M, Frijling, JL, Kubzansky, LD, Bradley, B, Ellenbogen, MA, Cardoso, C, Bartz, JA, Yee, JR and van Zuiden, M 2013. The role of oxytocin in social bonding, stress regulation and mental health: an update on the moderating effects of context and interindividual differences. Psychoneuroendocrinology 38, 1883–1894.Google Scholar
Paul, ES, Harding, EJ and Mendl, M 2005. Measuring emotional processes in animals: the utility of a cognitive approach. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 29, 469–491.Google Scholar
Rault, J-L 2016. Effects of positive and negative human contacts and intranasal oxytocin on cerebrospinal fluid oxytocin. Psychoneuroendocrinology 69, 60–66.Google Scholar
Rault, J-L, van den Munkhof, M and Buisman-Pijlman, FTA 2017. Oxytocin as an indicator of psychological and social well-being in domesticated animals: a critical review. Frontiers in Psychology 8, 1521.Google Scholar
Romero, T, Nagasawa, M, Mogi, K, Hasegawa, T and Kikusui, T 2014. Oxytocin promotes social bonding in dogs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111, 9085–9090.Google Scholar
Singer, T, Snozzi, R, Bird, G, Petrovic, P, Silani, G, Heinrichs, M and Dolan, RJ 2008. Effects of oxytocin and prosocial behavior on brain responses to direct and vicariously experienced pain. Emotion 8, 781.Google Scholar
Srithunyarat, T, Höglund, OV, Hagman, R, Olsson, U, Stridsberg, M, Lagerstedt, A-S and Pettersson, A 2016. Catestatin, vasostatin, cortisol, temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, scores of the short form of the Glasgow composite measure pain scale and visual analog scale for stress and pain behavior in dogs before and after ovariohysterectomy. BMC Research Notes 9, 381.Google Scholar
Studnitz, M, Jensen, MB and Pedersen, LJ 2007. Why do pigs root and in what will they root? A review on the exploratory behaviour of pigs in relation to environmental enrichment. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 107, 183–197.Google Scholar
Taylor, SE, Gonzaga, GC, Klein, LC, Hu, P, Greendale, GA and Seeman, TE 2006. Relation of oxytocin to psychological stress responses and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis activity in older women. Psychosomatic Medicine 68, 238–245.Google Scholar
Tuyttens, FAM 2005. The importance of straw for pig and cattle welfare: a review. In Applied Animal Behaviour Science 92, 261–282.Google Scholar
Ursinus, WW, Bolhuis, JE, Zonderland, JJ, Rodenburg, TB, de Souza, AS, Koopmanschap, RE, Kemp, B, Korte-Bouws, GA, Korte, SM and van Reenen, CG 2013. Relations between peripheral and brain serotonin measures and behavioural responses in a novelty test in pigs. Physiology & Behavior 118, 88–96.Google Scholar
Uvnäs-Moberg, K 1997. Physiological and endocrine effects of social contact. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 807, 146–163.Google Scholar
Uvnäs-Moberg, K 1998. Oxytocin may mediate the benefits of positive social interaction and emotions. Psychoneuroendocrinology 23, 819–835.Google Scholar
van de Weerd, HA and Day, JEL 2009. A review of environmental enrichment for pigs housed in intensive housing systems. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 116, 1–20.Google Scholar
Wemelsfelder, F 2007. How animals communicate quality of life: the qualitative assessment of behaviour. Animal Welfare 16, 25–31.Google Scholar
Young, SN and Moskowitz, DS 2005. Serotonin and affiliative behavior. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28, 367–368.Google Scholar
Zulkifli, I 2013. Review of human-animal interactions and their impact on animal productivity and welfare. Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology 4, 25.Google Scholar