Social confrontation in male guinea pigs: behavior, experience, and complement activity

Effects of different space allowances on growth performance, blood profile and pork quality in a grow-to-finish production system

Objective

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the optimal space allowance on growth performance, blood profile and pork quality of growing-finishing pigs.

Methods

A total of ninety crossbred pigs [(Yorkshire×Landrace)×Duroc, 30.25±1.13 kg] were allocated into three treatments (0.96: four pigs/pen, 0.96 m²/pig; 0.80: five pigs/pen, 0.80 m²/pig; 0.69: six pigs/pen, 0.69 m²/pig) in a randomized complete block design. Pigs were housed in balanced sex and had free access to feed in all phases for 14 weeks (growing phase I, growing phase II, finishing phase I, and finishing phase II).

Results

There was no statistical difference in growing phase, but a linear decrease was observed on average daily gain (ADG, p<0.01), average daily feed intake (ADFI, p<0.01), and body weight (BW, p<0.01) with decreasing space allowance in late finishing phase. On the other hand, a quadratic effect was observed on gain to feed ratio in early finishing phase (p<0.03). Consequently, overall ADG, ADFI, and final BW linearly declined in response to decreased space allowance (p<0.01). The pH of pork had no significant difference in 1 hour after slaughter, whereas there was a linear decrease in 24 h after slaughter with decreasing space allowance. Floor area allowance did not affect pork colors, but shear force linearly increased as floor space decreased (p<0.01). There was a linear increase in serum cortisol concentration on 14 week (p<0.05) with decreased space allocation. Serum IgG was linearly ameliorated as space allowance increased on 10 week (p<0.05) and 14 week (p<0.01).

Conclusion

Data from current study indicated that stress derived from reduced space allowance deteriorates the immune system as well as growth performance of pigs, resulting in poor pork quality. Recommended adequate space allowance in a grow-to-finish production system is more than 0.80 m²/pig for maximizing growth performance and production efficiency.

Social status, immune response and parasitism in males: a meta-analysis

In male vertebrates, two conflicting paradigms--the energetic costs of high dominance rank and the chronic stress of low rank--have been proposed to explain patterns of immune function and parasitism. To date, neither paradigm has provided a complete explanation for status-related differences in male health. Here, we applied meta-analyses to test for correlations between male social status, immune responses and parasitism. We used an ecoimmunological framework, which proposes that males should re-allocate investment in different immune components depending on the costs of dominance or subordination. Spanning 297 analyses, from 77 studies on several vertebrate taxa, we found that most immune responses were similar between subordinate and dominant males, and neither dominant nor subordinate males consistently invested in predictable immune components. However, subordinate males displayed significantly lower delayed-type hypersensitivity and higher levels of some inflammatory cytokines than dominant males, while dominant males exhibited relatively lower immunoglobulin responses than subordinate males. Despite few differences in immunity, dominant males exhibited consistently higher parasitism than subordinate males, including protozoan blood parasites, ectoparasites and gastrointestinal helminths. We discuss our results in the context of the costs of dominance and subordination and advocate future work that measures both parasitism and immune responses in wild systems.

Social isolation disrupts innate immune responses in both male and female prairie voles and enhances agonistic behavior in female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster)

Psychosocial stress, specifically social isolation, is an important risk factor for the development of a variety of psychological and physiological disorders. Changes in immune function have been hypothesized to mediate this relationship. The current study used the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) model of isolation-induced depressive-like behavior to test whether social isolation led to changes in innate immune function. Specifically, we used hemolytic complement (CH50) and bacteria killing assays to assess innate immunity, in paired or singly housed male and female prairie voles. Further, in a second experiment we tested whether females exposed to an additional short-term social stressor, a resident-intruder trial, would show changes in immune function as well as enhanced hypothalamic pituitary axis (HPA) activity as indicated by elevated plasma corticosterone levels. Socially isolated animals, regardless of sex, had significantly reduced CH50s and bacteria killing ability. Socially isolated females exposed to a resident-intruder stressor also showed reduced CH50s and bacteria killing ability as well as significant increases in aggressive behavior, however, they did not show elevated circulating corticosterone levels. Collectively, these data will help inform our understanding of the relationship between social isolation and physiological and psychological health.

Social stress, immune functions and disease in rodents

The link between social factors, stress and health has been the focus of many interdisciplinary studies mostly because: (i) animals, including humans, often live in societies; (ii) positive and negative social relationships affect disease and well being; (iii) physiological alterations, which parallel social interactions also modulate immune and neuroendocrine functions. This review will focus on studies conducted on laboratory and wild rodents where social factors such as dyadic interactions, individual housing and differential group housing were investigated. The results obtained allow one to conclude that social factors in rodents are causally linked with immune disorders/disease susceptibility. In particular, lower lymphocyte proliferation and antigen-specific-IgG, granulocytosis and lymphopenia, as well as higher tumor induction and progression, are reliably associated with negative social events. Finally, due to the increasing utilization of social stress-based animal models the reliability of the concept of "social stress" and its evolutionary context are re-evaluated.

Social influences on endocrine activity in guinea pigs, with comparisons to findings in nonhuman primates

Guinea pigs exhibit a rich and varied social organization. Studies in recent years have demonstrated that social stimuli have widespread neuroendocrine effects in guinea pigs. Here, effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal, adrenal medullary/sympathetic, and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal systems of both adult and developing guinea pigs are reviewed. These systems respond to various social variables, or factors that affect social variables, including: separation from attachment objects, housing conditions, changes in housing, the familiarity of the environment in which social interactions occur, foraging conditions, surrogate-rearing, agonistic interactions, and the establishment of dominance rank. Similarities and differences between these findings and those in nonhuman primates are discussed. It is argued that the guinea pig is well suited for the study of socioendocrine effects throughout the life span, and can provide a valuable complement to nonhuman primate research in this area.

Effects of social status after mixing on immune, metabolic, and endocrine responses in pigs

The effects of social rank on immune, metabolic, and endocrine responses were studied in 10 newly mixed groups of German Landrace pigs (9 individuals each) at an age of 12 weeks. Immediately after mixing, the agonistic interactions (AI) of all group members were continuously recorded over 3 days (10 h daily). An individual dominance value (DV) was calculated by the number of wins minus defeats in relation to all decisive fights (DV < or = 0, subordinate; DV > 0, dominant). Blood samples were taken 24 h before and 3 days after mixing. The data showed that the social status had a significant effect on lymphocyte proliferation in responses to different mitogens: socially dominant pigs had higher proliferative response than subordinate pigs. In addition, during the observation period the lymphocyte activation by mitogens increased in the dominant animals and decreased in the subordinate animals with increasing number of agonistic interactions. The rise in total serum IgG concentration 3 days after mixing was higher in dominant pigs compared with subordinates. The dominance status did not significantly affect plasma metabolic levels nor cortisol concentrations. However, mixing appeared to increase glucose and total protein values and to decrease alkaline phosphatase and cortisol levels in both, dominant and subordinate pigs. In conclusion, mitogen induced cell proliferation seems to be a valuable marker for acute social stress in pigs.

Social stress in loser rats: opposite immunological effects in submissive and subdominant males

The impact of chronic confrontation on behavior, body weight, and aspects of blood cellular immunity was investigated in 24 Long Evans intruder rats. At the beginning of a 1-week confrontation period, an adult male was introduced into a one male-one female resident group which resulted in fights for dominance. Although most intruders became losers in this situation, their specific behavior differed. Two groups of losers were defined: subdominant (N = 11) and submissive intruders (N = 9). In contrast to subdominant intruders, submissive males often displayed behaviors indicating social defeat. They were frequently involved in agonistic interactions and lost 7% of their initial body weight. Confrontation provoked marked changes in many measures of blood cellular immunity. Importantly, the immunological effects differed significantly in magnitude and direction depending on the individuals' behavior. Submissive males reacted with reduction in lymphocyte proliferation in response to ConA and shifts in lymphocyte subsets (decline in percentage of CD4 and CD8 T cells, increase of B cells), but with little change in lymphocyte numbers. In addition, a pronounced increase in granulocytes was evident. In contrast, in subdominant males lymphocyte, T cell, and B cell counts were lowered but no change in subset composition occurred. The effects on T and B cell composition were not fully reversible within 7 days after end of the confrontation period indicating long-term consequences for migration of lymphocyte subsets. These data show that a detailed behavioral analysis is required for a meaningful biological evaluation of social stress-induced immune changes in rats, because different coping strategies result in different immunological consequences.

Social confrontation and tumor metastasis in rats: defeat and beta-adrenergic mechanisms

The effect of social confrontation on the susceptibility to metastatic development was studied in rats. An intruder male Fischer 344 (F344) was introduced to a male-female Long-Evans pair and the behavior was recorded during the first 30 min of a 7-h confrontation session. Mammary tumor cells (MADB106), syngeneic to the inbred F344 rat, were injected i.v. to the intruder 1 h after the beginning of the confrontation session, and the lung retention of tumor cells was determined 24 h later. In this tumor model, metastases develop only in the lungs. Retention of tumor cells and the consequent development of lung colonies are known to be highly controlled by the activity levels of natural killer cells during the first 24 h after tumor inoculation but not later. Twenty of the 21 intruders were attacked by resident males and 19 displayed submissive behavior. A significant increase in lung tumor retention was evident in intruders compared to both control groups: home cage and new environment. The magnitude of this increase was higher in intruders that frequently displayed submissive behavior (indicating social defeat). Pretreatment with the beta-adrenergic antagonist, butoxamine, reduced the effects of social confrontation by approximately 50%, and adrenal demedullation almost abolished it without significantly affecting the social interaction. These findings suggest that the nature of intruder-resident interaction, rather than being subdominant or exposure to an unfamiliar environment, has a marked influence on the intruder's susceptibility to metastatic development. These effects of social confrontation seem to be mediated by adrenergic mechanisms, possibly via adrenergic influence on NK function and distribution.