The effect of local or general anesthesia on the physiology and behavior of tail docked pigs

Tail docking of pigs is a routine procedure on farms to help control tail-biting behavior; however, docking can cause pain. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of local or general anesthesia on the physiology (experiment 1) and behavior (experiment 2) of tail docked pigs. Pigs were allocated to one of six treatment groups: (i) sham docking (CON); (ii) docking using conventional cutting (CUT) with side-cutting pliers; (iii) CUT docking plus local anesthesia injected immediately before docking (LA); (iv) CUT docking plus short-acting local anesthesia applied topically to the tail wound (SHORT); (v) CUT docking plus long-acting anesthesia applied topically to the tail wound (LONG) and (vi) CUT docking while the pig was anesthetized with carbon dioxide gas (CO(2)). In experiment 1, blood samples were collected from pigs (10 pigs per treatment) before and 30, 60 and 120 min after docking to measure leukocyte counts and percentages and cortisol concentrations. In experiment 2, the above treatments were repeated (10 pigs per treatment); the percentage of stress vocalizations were recorded during the administration of the treatments and behavior was recorded for up to 120 min after docking or handling. All pigs were weighed before and 24 h after docking and wound healing was recorded until weaning. The neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio was greater (P < 0.05) in CUT, LA, SHORT and LONG compared with CON pigs. At 30 min, cortisol concentrations were greater (P < 0.05) in CUT, LA, LONG and CO(2) compared with CON pigs. Cortisol concentrations did not differ (P > 0.05) between SHORT and CON pigs 30 min after docking. Cortisol concentrations did not differ (P > 0.05) among pigs given pain relief at the time of docking compared with pigs' docked without pain relief. Body weight change and wound scores did not differ (P > 0.05) among treatments. The percentage of stress vocalizations increased (P < 0.05) in CUT, SHORT and LONG, but not in CON, LA and CO(2) pigs in response to docking or handling. The percentage of time pigs spent lying without contact after docking tended to be greater (P = 0.06) in CUT pigs compared with all other docking treatments and CON pigs. In this study, none of the anesthesia treatments tested were effective at significantly changing the physiological or behavioral response to tail docking in pigs.     

Effects of a local anaesthetic and NSAID in castration of piglets,on the acute pain responses,growth and mortality

The present study addresses the questions whether on-farm use of local anaesthesia with lidocaine leads to a reduction in pain responses during castration, and whether the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug meloxicam improves technical performance after castration of piglets. Five treatments were included in the study: (1) castration without anaesthesia or analgesia (CAST), (2) castration after local anaesthesia with lidocaine (LIDO), (3) castration after administration of meloxicam (MELO), (4) castration after lidocaine and meloxicam (L + M) and (5) sham castration (SHAM). To reduce litter influences, each treatment was present in each of the 32 litters (n = 32 per treatment). During castration, vocalizations were recorded continuously. Blood samples were collected 15 min before and 20 min after castration for determination of plasma levels of total cortisol, glucose, lactate and creatine kinase (CK). Mortality was registered and piglets were weighed several times to calculate growth. Several aspects of vocalizations during castration showed consistent and significantly different levels in CAST compared with LIDO, L + M and SHAM. CAST piglets squealed longer, louder and higher. Vocalizations of MELO piglets most resembled those of CAST. An increase in cortisol was seen in all treatments. However, in SHAM piglets this increase was significantly lower than in the other treatments. LIDO piglets showed a significantly smaller increase in plasma cortisol levels compared with CAST and MELO. L + M piglets differed significantly only from the SHAM group. Lactate levels differed significantly between LIDO and MELO, the level in LIDO being decreased after castration. In the other treatments an increase was measured. No treatment effects were found in plasma glucose and CK levels, nor in growth and mortality of the piglets. In conclusion, on the basis of vocalizations and plasma cortisol, local anaesthesia with lidocaine reduces pain responses in piglets during castration. A positive effect of meloxicam on technical performance was not found.     

Acute physiological responses to castration-related pain in piglets: the effect of two local anesthetics with or without meloxicam

Methods to reduce castration-related pain in piglets are still issues of concern and interest for authorities and producers. Our objectives were to estimate the effectiveness of two protocols of local anesthesia (lidocaine and the combination of lidocaine+bupivacaine) as well as the use of meloxicam as a postoperative analgesic in alleviating castration-related pain, measured by acute physiological responses. Eight groups (15 piglets/group) were included in the study: (1) castration without anesthesia or analgesia, without meloxicam (TRAD WITHOUT), (2) castration without anesthesia or analgesia, but with meloxicam (TRAD WITH), (3) handling without meloxicam (SHAM WITHOUT), (4) handling with meloxicam (SHAM WITH), (5) castration after local anesthesia with lidocaine but without meloxicam (LIDO WITHOUT), (6) castration after local anesthesia with lidocaine and meloxicam (LIDO WITH), (7) castration after local anesthesia with lidocaine+bupivacaine without meloxicam (LIDO+BUPI WITHOUT), (8) castration after local anesthesia with lidocaine+bupivacaine and meloxicam (LIDO+BUPI WITH). Acute physiological responses measured included skin surface temperature and serum glucose and cortisol concentrations. On days 4 and 11 post-castration BW was recorded and average daily gain was calculated over this period. Furthermore, piglet mortality was recorded over the 11-day post-castration period. Administration of local anesthetic or meloxicam did not prevent the decrease in skin surface temperature associated with castration. Lidocaine reduced the increase in glucose concentration associated with castration. For castrated pigs, the joint use of lidocaine and meloxicam caused a significant decrease in cortisol concentration; the combination of intratesticular lidocaine and bupivacaine did not seem to be more effective than lidocaine alone. No effect of treatments on mortality and growth were detected.     

Effects of castration and weaning conducted concurrently or consecutively on behaviour,blood traits and performance in beef calves

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of Burdizzo castration and abrupt weaning on the behaviour, blood traits and performance of beef calves when weaning was conducted concurrently or consecutively to castration. In total, 64 male beef calves aged between 6 and 7 months were assigned to a 2×2 factorial design with the following treatment groups (n=16 animals per treatment): (1) castrated and concurrently weaned in week 0 (CAS-WEA); (2) castrated in week 0 and weaned in week 4 (CAS-CON); (3) bulls weaned in week 0 (BUL-WEA); and (4) bulls weaned in week 4 (BUL-CON). The behaviour of the calves was observed for 3 days following weaning. Blood was collected weekly from weeks 0 to 5 and analysed for the acute-phase protein haptoglobin, and neutrophil and lymphocyte percentages. BW was recorded weekly from weeks 0 to 7. Animals were slaughtered at 17 months and weight, dressing percentage and carcass classifications were recorded. On day 1 after weaning, the number of vocalizations (calls/10 min) was higher in BUL-WEA (7.2) and CAS-WEA (5.4) than in calves of CAS-CON (2.8) and BUL-CON (2.9) groups (P<0.05). From days 1 to 3 vocalizations decreased in all groups. CAS-CON and BUL-CON animals spent 20% lying on day 1 after weaning compared with 40% in CAS-WEA and BUL-WEA calves (P<0.05). The haptoglobin concentration decreased during the first 5 weeks after weaning in all groups independent of the castration, weaning group or its interaction (P>0.05). WEA groups showed an increased average daily gain (ADG) during weeks 0 to 3 and a reduced ADG during 4 to 7 weeks in comparison with CON animals. At slaughter, bulls were about 80 kg heavier than castrates and had a superior dressing percentage and carcass classification (P>0.05). In conclusion, weaning had a greater effect on the number of vocalizations, standing/walking and lying behaviour and ADG compared with Burdizzo castration. In comparison with undertaking the procedures separately, concurrent castration and weaning neither affected behaviour and haematological parameters nor impaired performance. There was no evidence that the concurrent application of both treatments markedly increased the stress response compared with their application at intervals of a few weeks.     

Effect of a topical anaesthetic formulation on the cortisol response to surgical castration of unweaned beef calves

Impracticality and cost of existing pain management strategies during surgical castration of beef cattle have limited their widespread implementation on-farm. A farmer-applied topical anaesthetic formulation, originally developed and used commercially to mitigate the pain of mulesing in lambs, was investigated for its potential use for managing pain in surgically castrated calves. This formulation contained lidocaine, bupivacaine, adrenalin and cetrimide. In this study, 24 Angus bull calves were randomly allocated to (1) surgical castration (C, n=8), (2) surgical castration with the post-operative application of topical anaesthetic (CTA, n=8) and (3) sham castration/control (CON, n=8). The experiment was conducted over 2 days, with treatment groups evenly represented across each day. Calves were habituated to handling before the experiment and blood samples were collected for plasma cortisol measurement at defined time periods before, at and post treatment, (at −0.5, 0 h, then +0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 4 and 6 h). There was a significant effect of time on cortisol concentrations across all treatment groups (P<0.01), with lowest concentrations at −0.5 and 6 h and peak concentration at 0.5 h being significantly higher than the cortisol response at 0 h. The effect of treatment was not significant (P=0.077), however, there was a trend for CON calves to display lower cortisol concentrations than C and CTA calves and CTA calves to display lower cortisol concentrations than C calves. The mean area under the curve (AUC) of CON calves was significantly lower than those of C and CTA calves (P=0.04), however, there was no significant difference between the AUCs of CTA and C calves. Immediate application of topical anaesthetic after surgical castration did not significantly reduce plasma cortisol concentrations. However, the trend for CTA calves to display lower cortisol concentrations than C calves warrants further investigation into the use of TA for pain relief of surgically castrated beef calves.     

Tail docking in pigs: acute physiological and behavioural responses

Tail docking of piglets is a routine procedure on farms to control tail-biting behaviour; however, docking can cause an acute stress response. The objectives of this research were to determine the stress responses to tail docking in piglets and to compare two methods of tail docking; cautery iron (CAUT) and the more commonly used blunt trauma cutters (BT). At approximately 6 days of age, piglets were tail docked using CAUT (n = 20), BT (n = 20) or sham tail docked with their tails remaining intact (CON; n = 40). Blood samples were taken prior to tail docking and at 30, 60 and 90 min after tail docking to evaluate the effect of tail docking on white blood cell (WBC) measures and cortisol concentrations. The above experiment was repeated to observe behaviour without the periodic blood sampling, so as not to confound the effects of blood sampling on piglet behaviour. Piglet behaviour was recorded in the farrowing crate using 1 min scan-samples via live observations for 60 min prior to and 90 min after tail docking. Total WBC counts were reduced (P > 0.05) among BT and CAUT compared with CON piglets 30 min after tail docking. Cortisol concentrations were higher (P < 0.01) among BT compared with CON and CAUT piglets 60 min after tail docking. Cautery and BT-docked piglets spent more (P < 0.05) time posterior scooting compared with CON piglets between 0 and 15 min, and 31 and 45 min after tail docking. Piglets tail docked using CAUT and BT tended to spend more (P < 0.07) time sitting than CON piglets between 0 and 15 min post tail docking. Elevated blood cortisol can be reduced by the use of the CAUT rather than the BT method of tail docking. Although the tail docking-induced rise in cortisol was prevented by using CAUT, the behavioural response to BT and CAUT docking methods was similar.     

Vocal responses of piglets to castration: identifying procedural sources of pain

The aims of this study were to identify which aspects of castration are painful to piglets, and to determine if less painful methods are available. Previous work has shown that piglets produce more high frequency calls (>1kHz) when castrated than when handled identically but not castrated, or when castrated using a local anesthetic. In Experiment 1, we used 90 piglets to assess the vocal responses to different components of the castration procedure: restraint, washing the ano-genital region, scrotal incision, and pulling/severing of the spermatic cords. Compared to sham-operated animals (which were restrained and washed but not castrated) incision of the scrotum produced much more high-frequency calling than restraint alone at the same stage of the procedure. Pulling and severing the spermatic cords evoked the greatest amount of calling, significantly more than the incision, regardless of the order in which the incision and pull/sever were performed (P<0.001). In Experiment 2 (49 piglets), we found no difference in calling between two methods routinely used to sever the spermatic cord: cutting the cord with a scalpel versus tearing the cord by pulling on the testicle. These findings suggest that the pulling and severing of the spermatic cords are the most painful components of castration, yet altering the method of severing resulted in no change in call rate. Rather than focusing on pain control, welfare problems associated with castration may be better reduced by using non-surgical approaches, or by eliminating the need for castration in the first place.     

Can novel methods be useful for pain assessment of castrated piglets?

Given that surgical castration is a painful practice performed on millions of pigs every year, a need to identify novel reliable pain assessment tools exists in order to test anaesthetic and analgesic protocols that may reduce related pain. Two treatments were considered: handling (H) and surgical castration (C). Physiological (cortisol, lactate, glycaemia, rectal and eye temperature) and behavioural variables (latency to move after treatment and alterations in posture and walking) were analysed. Cortisol showed the greatest level in C piglets within 20 min after the surgical procedure and a positive correlation with glucose concentration. Eye temperature was higher in C piglets, and the same difference was detected for rectal temperature 3 h after castration. Behavioural parameters revealed that C piglets had longer latency to move and a higher percentage of them showed alterations in posture and walking. Results of this study showed that, in castrated piglets behavioural and physiological alterations occur mainly in the first 3 h from treatment. Latency to move, alterations in posture and walking, and eye temperature appear to give additional and useful information in piglet pain assessment. However, differently from the behavioural parameters considered, eye temperature involves several manipulations of the animals and a long process to acquire the data.     

Pain behaviour after castration of piglets; effect of pain relief with lidocaine and/or meloxicam

Behavioural responses and the effect of lidocaine and meloxicam on behaviour of piglets after castration were studied. A total of 144 piglets of 2 to 5 days of age were allocated to one of six treatments: castration (CAST), castration with lidocaine (LIDO), castration with meloxicam (MELO), castration with lidocaine and meloxicam (L + M), handling (SHAM) and no handling (NONE). Behaviour was observed for 5 days after the procedure, growth until weaning was recorded and characteristics of the castration wound noted. MELO piglets showed significantly (P < 0.05) more no pain-related behaviour than CAST and LIDO at the afternoon after castration, and were not significantly different from SHAM and NONE. LIDO piglets showed an increase (P < 0.001) in tail wagging, lasting for 3 days. This increase was not seen in L + M piglets. The occurrence of several behaviours changed with age, independent of treatment. A treatment effect on growth was not found. Wound healing was rapid in all treatments, but thickening of the heal was observed in several piglets, suggesting perturbation in the cicatrization process. Our study showed a pain-relieving effect of meloxicam after castration. Local anaesthesia resulted in piglets performing more tail wagging during the first few days after castration, which was prevented by administering meloxicam in combination with local anaesthesia.     

Traumatic Stress Disorder Observed in an Adult Wild Captive Wolf (Canis lupus)

Music or other background sounds are often played in barns as environmental enrichment for animals on farms or to mask sudden disruptive noises. However, previous studies looking at the effects of this practice on nonhuman animal well-being and productivity have found contradictory results. This study monitored the vocal responses of piglets, as indicators of well-being, to evaluate the effect of various sounds played during 2 simulations of stressful farm procedures: (a) the 5 min the animals were held as if for castration and (b) the first 20 hr after weaning. The sound treatments included pink noise, music, vocalizations made by other piglets during actual castrations or the first hours after weaning, and silence (control). The study presented pink noise and music both with and without a binaural beat in the delta-theta frequency range. In both the handling and weaning situations, none of the sound treatments reduced the piglets' call rate below that heard during the control. Piglets vocalized most during playback of pink noise and least during silence and playback of calls from other pigs. These results suggest that playing music or other sounds provides no improvement in conditions for piglets during handling and weaning.     

Can Ambient Sound Reduce Distress in Piglets During Weaning and Restraint?

Music or other background sounds are often played in barns as environmental enrichment for animals on farms or to mask sudden disruptive noises. However, previous studies looking at the effects of this practice on nonhuman animal well-being and productivity have found contradictory results. This study monitored the vocal responses of piglets, as indicators of well-being, to evaluate the effect of various sounds played during 2 simulations of stressful farm procedures: (a) the 5 min the animals were held as if for castration and (b) the first 20 hr after weaning. The sound treatments included pink noise, music, vocalizations made by other piglets during actual castrations or the first hours after weaning, and silence (control). The study presented pink noise and music both with and without a binaural beat in the delta-theta frequency range. In both the handling and weaning situations, none of the sound treatments reduced the piglets' call rate below that heard during the control. Piglets vocalized most during playback of pink noise and least during silence and playback of calls from other pigs. These results suggest that playing music or other sounds provides no improvement in conditions for piglets during handling and weaning.     

Castration inhibits exercise-induced accumulation of Hsp70 in male rodent hearts

Intense exercise leads to accumulation of the inducible member of the 70-kDa family of heat shock proteins, Hsp70, in male, but not female, hearts. Estrogen is at least partially responsible for this difference. Because androgen receptors are expressed in the heart and castration leads to decreases in calcium regulatory proteins and altered cardiac function, testosterone (T) or its metabolites could also be involved. We hypothesized that removal of endogenous T production through castration would reduce cardiac Hsp70 accumulation after an acute exercise bout, whereas castrated animals supplemented with 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) would show the intact male response. Fifty-four 8-wk-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into intact, castrated, or castrated + DHT groups (n = 18/group). At 11 wk of age, 12 animals in each group undertook a 60-min bout of treadmill running at 30 m/min (2% incline) while the remaining 6 in each group remained sedentary. At 30 min or 24 h after exercise (n = 6/time point), blood and hearts were harvested for analysis. Serum T was undetectable in castrated and DHT-treated castrated rats, whereas serum DHT was significantly reduced in castrated animals only (approximately 60% reduction) (P < 0.05). Although there were no differences in constitutive levels of Hsp70 protein, exercise significantly increased cardiac hsp70 mRNA and protein in intact and DHT-supplemented rats, but not in castrated animals (P < 0.05). To examine whether castration eliminated the ability to respond to stress, another six intact and six castrated animals were subjected to a 15-min period of hyperthermia (core temperature raised to 42 degrees C) and killed 24 h later. As opposed to exercise, castrated animals subjected to heat shock exhibited increases in Hsp70 above nonshocked (i.e., sedentary) animals, similarly to intact males (P < 0.05). These data suggest that androgens, in addition to estrogen, play a role in the sexual dimorphism observed in the stress response to exercise but not heat shock.     

Behavioural responses of piglets to castration: the effect of piglet age

It has long been assumed that neonatal animals are less sensitive than older animals to pain, and this reasoning has been used to recommend that routine surgical procedures be performed at an early age. In this study we tested if vocal and other behavioural responses to castration increase with piglet age. Piglets (n=84) from 14 litters were assigned to one of six treatment groups: castration or sham castration at 3, 10 or 17 days of age. During the procedure castrated piglets produced high-frequency calls (>1000Hz) at more than three times the rate of piglets in the sham-castrate group. The rate of low-frequency (<1000Hz) calls was also higher for piglets in the castrate group. The rate of high-frequency calling was lower for the youngest pigs but there was no relationship between age and the effect of treatment for any of the vocal responses measured (i.e. no age by treatment interaction). During the first 2h after castration, castrated piglets spent more time sitting or standing and less time lying. During the subsequent 22h, castrated piglets spent marginally more time at the udder and less time lying down. Older piglets missed more nursings. However, the effect of castration did not vary with the age of the piglet for any measure. We conclude that while the factors affecting both the shams and the castrates (e.g. distress due to restraint) may vary with age, the pain of castration is not affected by age within the range of ages that we tested.     

Relationship between variation in conceptus development and differences in estrous cycle duration in ewes

The objective of this study was to examine conceptus development on Day 13 in ewes with estrous cycles of different durations. Ewes (n = 80) were screened according to the length of their estrous cycles. Subsequently, ewes that had either SHORT or LONG cycles were utilized (15.9 +/- 0.1 or 18.6 +/- 0.4 days; mean +/- SEM, p less than 0.01; 10 ewes per group). Jugular blood samples were collected twice daily from Days 0-6 after mating and then once a day until slaughter on Day 13. Concentrations of progesterone in plasma and amounts of ovine trophoblast protein-1 (oTP-1), protein, and prostaglandins (PG) E2 and F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha) in uterine flushings were determined. Concentrations of progesterone were greater (Day by treatment interaction, p less than 0.01) on Days 2-4 for ewes in the SHORT group. On Day 5 and thereafter, progesterone concentrations were not different between groups. More (p less than 0.05) oTP-1 and protein (8.1 +/- 1.3 micrograms and 1.8 +/- 0.3 micrograms versus 2.4 +/- 1.3 micrograms and 0.8 +/- 0.3 mg) were recovered from uterine flushings from ewes in the SHORT versus LONG groups, respectively. The ratio of PGE2:PGF2 alpha was higher (p less than 0.06) in flushings from ewes in the SHORT versus LONG group (1.4 +/- 0.2 versus 0.9 +/- 0.2, respectively). Conceptuses were classified by stage of morphological development. Conceptus development was accelerated (p less than 0.01) in ewes of the SHORT group, as shown by filamentous conceptuses recovered from 78% versus 0% of SHORT versus LONG ewes, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Castration of piglets under CO2-gas anaesthesia

It has become common practice in pig fattening production systems to castrate young boar piglets without the use of anaesthesia. In this study, we examined whether or not CO2 gas is capable of inducing an acceptable anaesthetic state during which castration can be performed. The first step was to identify the most promising CO2/O2 mixture. Based on the results from this first experiment, a mixture of 70% CO2 + 30% O2 was chosen for further investigation as a potential anaesthetic during the castration of young piglets. Thereby, it was established whether the duration and depth of anaesthesia were acceptable for castration where the animal has to be insensible and unconscious. Physiological effects were assessed based on electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements, blood gas values and behavioural responses. During the induction phase, the only typical behaviour the piglets exhibited when exposed to the 70/30 gas mixture was heavy breathing. All piglets (n = 25) lost consciousness after approximately 30 s according to the EEG. Heart rate decreased slowly during the induction phase, a serious drop occurred when piglets lost their posture. Immediately after this drop, the heart rate neared zero or showed a very irregular pattern. Shortly after loss of posture, most animals showed a few convulsions. None of the animals showed any reaction to castration in behaviour and/or on the EEG and ECG. On average, the piglets recovered within 59 s, i.e. EEG returned to its pre-induction pattern and piglets were able to regain a standing position. After 120 s, heart rate returned to pre-induction levels. In order to explore the usage range of CO2 concentration, 24 piglets were exposed to 60% CO2 + 20% O2 + 20% N2 for up to 30 s after loss of consciousness (as registered on EEG), and castrated after removal from the chamber. Sixteen of the 24 animals showed a reaction to the castration on the EEG. To establish the maximum time piglets survive in 70% CO2 + 30% O2, five piglets were placed in this mixture for 3 min. Two of them died. After that, four piglets were placed in this mixture for 2 min after unconsciousness, one died after 2 min. It was concluded from this study that it is possible to anaesthetise piglets with a mixture of 70% CO2 + 30% O2, but that there are limits to its safety in terms of CO2 concentration and duration of exposure. Before implementation for practical use, further research is essential to assess the limits of gas concentration and exposure times.     

The single biopsy approach is reliable for the measurement of muscle protein synthesis rates in vivo in older men

We aimed to assess the reliability of the single biopsy approach for calculating muscle protein synthesis rates compared with the well described sequential muscle biopsy approach following a primed continuous infusion of L-[ring-(2)H(5)]phenylalanine and GC-MS analysis in older men. Two separate experimental infusion protocols, with differing stable isotope amino acid incorporation times, were employed consisting of n = 27 (experiment 1) or n = 9 (experiment 2). Specifically, mixed muscle protein FSR were calculated from baseline plasma protein enrichments and muscle protein enrichments obtained at 90 min or 50 min (1BX SHORT), 210 min or 170 min (1BX LONG), and between the muscle protein enrichments obtained at 90 and 210 min or 50 min and 170 min (2BX) of the infusion for experiments 1 and 2, respectively. In experiment 2, we also assessed the error that is introduced to the single muscle biopsy approach when nontracer naive subjects are recruited for participation in a primed continuous infusion of isotope-labeled amino acids. In experiment 1, applying the individual plasma protein enrichment values to the single muscle biopsy approach resulted in no differences in muscle protein FSR between the 1BX SHORT (0.031 ± 0.003%·h(-1)), 1BX LONG (0.032 ± 0.002%·h(-1)), or the 2BX approach (0.034 ± 0.002%·h(-1)). A significant correlation in muscle protein FSR was observed only between the 1BX LONG and 2BX approach (r = 0.8; P < 0.001). Similar results were observed in experiment 2. In addition, using the single biopsy approach in nontracer na?ve state results in a muscle protein FSR that is negative for both the 1BX SHORT (-0.67 ± 0.051%·h(-1)) and 1BX LONG (-0.19 ± 0.051%·h(-1)) approaches. This is the first study to demonstrate that the single biopsy approach, coupled with the background enrichment of L-[ring-(2)H(5)]-phenylalanine of mixed plasma proteins, generates data that are similar to using the sequential muscle biopsy approach in the elderly population.     

Recovery time affects immunoendocrine responses to a second bout of endurance exercise

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of different durations of rest between two bouts of exercise on immunoendocrine responses during and after the second bout of exercise. Nine endurance athletes participated in three 25-h trials: 1) complete bed rest (REST), 2) two bouts of exercise separated by 3 h of rest (SHORT), and 3) two bouts of exercise separated by 6 h of rest (LONG). Each cycle ergometer exercise bout lasted 75 min at 75% of maximal O(2) uptake. We observed a more pronounced increase in epinephrine, norepinephrine, adrenocorticotropic hormone, and cortisol, but not in growth hormone, and a larger neutrophilia and lymphocytopenia in connection with the second bout of exercise in trial SHORT compared with trial LONG. Lymphocyte activation was unaltered by the difference in rest protocol. In conclusion, a second bout of exercise elicited more pronounced change in neuroendocrine factors and leukocyte counts when preceded by 3 h of rest as opposed to 6 h of rest after the first bout of exercise.     

Effects of unilateral castration on morphologic characteristics of the testis in one-, two-, and three-year-old stallions

The effects of unilateral castration on testicular compensatory hypertrophy were measured in 12 Morgan stallions, four each at one, two, and three years of age. They were randomized within age to intact (IN) or unilaterally castrated (UC) groups. Allotment and surgery were in January 1983 and total castration was in June 1983, 150 d after unilateral castration. Testis weight increased linearly with age (P < 0.01) and was increased by unilateral castration (P < 0.07). Epididymal weight also increased linearly with age (P < 0.05) and was heavier in UC animals (P = 0.15). Tubule diameter (P < 0.10) and epithelial height (P < 0.03) were greater in UC than in IN stallions. In conclusion, testes of stallions underwent compensatory hypertrophy after unilateral castration.     

Effects of topical anaesthetic and buccal meloxicam on average daily gain,behaviour and inflammation of unweaned beef calves following surgical castration

Although the pain caused by castration of calves is a significant animal welfare issue for the beef industry, analgesia is not always used for this procedure, largely because of practical limitations associated with injectable forms of pain relief. Novel analgesic formulations have now been developed for livestock to allow topical and buccal administration, offering practical options to improve cattle welfare if shown to be effective. To assess the effects of topical anaesthetic (TA) and buccal meloxicam (BM) on average daily gain (ADG), behaviour and inflammation following surgical castration of beef calves, a total of 50 unweaned bull calves were randomly allocated to: (1) sham castration (SHAM, n=10); (2) surgical castration (C, n=10); (3) surgical castration with pre-operative buccal meloxicam (CBM, n=10); (4) surgical castration with post-operative topical anaesthetic (CTA, n=10); and (5) surgical castration with pre-operative buccal meloxicam and post-operative topical anaesthetic (CBMTA, n=10). Calves were recorded on video for 5 h following treatment and the frequency and duration of specific behaviours displayed by each animal was later observed for 5 min every hour (total of 25 min). Average daily gain was calculated 1, 2 and 6 days following treatment. Scrotal diameter measurements and photographs of wounds were collected from all castrated calves 1, 2 and 6 days following treatment to evaluate inflammation and wound healing. Infrared photographs were used to identify maximum scrotal temperature. Digital photographs were used to visually score wounds on a numerical rating scale of 1 to 5, with signs of inflammation increasing and signs of healing decreasing with progressive scores. Sham castration calves displayed significantly less, and C calves displayed significantly more foot stamps than all other calves (P=0.005). Observations on the duration of time that calves displayed a hypometric ‘stiff gait’ locomotion, indicated that SHAM calves tended to spend no time, C calves tended to spend the greatest time and all other calves tended to spend an intermediate time displaying this behaviour (P=0.06). Maximum scrotal temperatures were lower in CBM and CBMTA calves than C and CTA calves 2 days following treatment (P=0.004). There was no significant effect of treatment on ADG (P=0.7), scrotal diameter (P=0.09) or wound morphology score (P=0.5). These results suggest that TA and BM, alone or in combination, reduced pain and BM reduced inflammation following surgical castration of calves.     

Ear tagging in piglets: the cortisol response with and without analgesia in comparison with castration and tail docking

The objectives of the present study were to compare the cortisol response caused by ear tagging piglets with the distress caused by other known painful husbandry procedures (e.g. castration and tail docking) and to evaluate the effectiveness of analgesia with meloxicam to reduce the cortisol response caused by these procedures. In total, 210 male piglets were randomised to equal numbers (n=30) into one of seven groups: a control group which was only handled (H), an ear tagged group that received no analgesia (ET), an ear tagged group with analgesia (ETM), a castration group with no analgesia (C), a castration group with analgesia (CM), a tail-docked group with no analgesia (TD) and a tail-docked group with analgesia (TDM). The procedures were carried out on day 3 or 4 after farrowing. Five blood samples were taken from each piglet: 30 min before the respective procedure (baseline value), and 30, 60 min, 4 and 7 h after processing, to assess cortisol concentrations. Means as well as the area under the curve (AUC) value were analysed and the effective sizes of the procedures were established. At 7 h after the experimental treatment, cortisol concentrations had returned to base values in all groups. ET evoked a greater cortisol response than H piglets at 30 min (P<0.001) and 60 min (P=0.001). The cortisol response to ET was lower than C at 30 min (P=0.001) but did not differ significantly at the other sample times. The mean cortisol response was similar between ET and TD piglets over all sample times. Taking both intensity and duration of the cortisol response into account (AUC), ET evoked a greater response than TD. Analgesia (ETM) resulted in significantly lower cortisol levels than ET at 30 and 60 min post-procedure. Castration (C) provoked the highest cortisol response of all procedures; a significant analgesic effect (CM) was shown only at 4 h post-procedure. TD resulted in significantly higher cortisol levels than H piglets only at 30 min; analgesia (TDM) significantly reduced the cortisol response at 30 min. We conclude that ear tagging causes a dramatic increase in cortisol levels compared with handling alone in piglets, which suggests that this procedure causes substantial distress. However, further research is needed to confirm these results.