Benchmarking Acute Phase Protein levels in pigs
A special class of molecules called Acute Phase Proteins (APPs) have been identified as potential indicators of swine health. In order to move forward with the implementation of APP indexes it is first necessary to establish a benchmark for the levels of these proteins in healthy animals. Funded by the LIFE QUALITY Programme, swine specialists from PigCHAMP Pro randomly sampled pigs at a number of Spanish farms, examining the effect of a number of different parameters. Concentrations of four APPs: Pig-MAP, haptoglobin, CRP and ApoA-I were measured in the pigs' blood serum. Lower values of the three positive APPs (Pig-MAP, haptoglobin and CRP) but higher values of the negative APP (ApoA-I) are associated with better health. The sex of the animal was found to have an effect on APP levels, with higher Pig-MAP but lower haptoglobin levels in males on average. Interestingly, the number of times females had given birth did not affect Pig-MAP or haptoglobin concentrations, but did result in a reduction in ApoA-I levels. With respect to the influence of the animal's age, sampling the same animal at several different ages revealed only a slight reduction in Pig-MAP over time. In order to gauge the impact of the farm's health practices, animals were tested at farms with healthy and not-so-healthy pig herds. Health status was judged according to disease incidence and mortality rates. As expected, the concentrations of the positive APPs were consistently lower in animals sampled from the healthy farm while ApoA-I levels were higher. Pig farmers will be able to use the APP concentrations recorded during this study as a point of reference for assessing the health of their own herds. The guidance concerning the effect of various attributes, such as age, sex, etc., will also be invaluable. The APP data and other information about the research project can be gathered online at: http://www.gla.ac.uk/appinpigs/(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)
