Performance, serum amino acid concentrations and expression of selected genes in pair‐fed growing pigs exposed to high ambient temperatures

Abstract

Heat stress (HS) depresses pig performance mainly because of appetite reduction, although other factors involved in the cellular availability of nutrients may also contribute to that depression. An experiment was conducted with twelve pair-fed pigs (30.3±2.7kg BW) to examine the effect of severe HS (up to 45°C) on the expression of genes coding for two cationic amino acid (AA) transporters (b(0,+) AT and CAT-1), leptin, heat-shock protein (Hsp-90) and myosin in several tissues; serum concentrations (SC) of AA; and performance. There were two treatments: Comfort, pigs housed at an average temperature of 22 (±2)°C; and HS, pigs housed in a similar room with no climate control, where temperature was raised up to 45°C. All pigs received the same wheat-soybean meal diet and had similar daily feed intake. Comfort pigs had a higher daily gain and better gain/feed ratio than HS pigs (p<0.05). The expression of b(0,+) AT in jejunum and liver, that of myosin in the Semitendinosus muscle, and leptin in adipose tissue was lower, but CAT-1 in jejunum and liver, and Hsp-90 in liver was higher in HS pigs. The SC of Lys and Met in HS pigs were around 55% and 20%, respectively, of that in Comfort pigs (p<0.05). In conclusion, HS affects the expression of cationic AA transporters, myosin, Hsp-90, leptin; the SC of Lys and Met; and the performance of pair-fed pigs. These results suggest that HS-related changes in gene expression affect the performance of pigs beyond the effect caused by the reduction in voluntary feed intake.