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Effect of Varying Levels of Dietary Tryptophan on Aggression and Abnormal Behavior in Growing Pigs

Body lesions, resulting from tail-biting and ear-biting, can result in decreased health and welfare in pigs. Tryptophan, an indispensable amino acid, is needed to support protein deposition, and the synthesis of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is important to mood, sleep-wake and eating patter...

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Autores principales: Henry, Maggie, Shoveller, Anna Kate, O'Sullivan, Terri L., Niel, Lee, Friendship, Robert
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9198587/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35720838
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.849970
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author Henry, Maggie
Shoveller, Anna Kate
O'Sullivan, Terri L.
Niel, Lee
Friendship, Robert
author_facet Henry, Maggie
Shoveller, Anna Kate
O'Sullivan, Terri L.
Niel, Lee
Friendship, Robert
author_sort Henry, Maggie
collection PubMed
description Body lesions, resulting from tail-biting and ear-biting, can result in decreased health and welfare in pigs. Tryptophan, an indispensable amino acid, is needed to support protein deposition, and the synthesis of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is important to mood, sleep-wake and eating patterns and might play a role in aggression and abnormal behavior. Two randomized block design studies were conducted to assess the influence of varying dietary tryptophan levels on aggression and abnormal behavior in 8-week-old pigs. Six diets were formulated which met or exceeded all nutrient requirements yet differed according to the dietary tryptophan content. The first study included control (100% standardized ileal digestible tryptophan), supplemented (175% standardized ileal digestible tryptophan), and supplement-plus (250% standardized ileal digestible tryptophan) experimental diets, while the second study included deficient (80% standardized ileal digestible tryptophan), adequate control (105% standardized ileal digestible tryptophan), and extra-tryptophan (130% standardized ileal digestible tryptophan) experimental diets. Concentrations of plasma tryptophan and large neutral amino acids (tyrosine, isoleucine, leucine, valine, and phenylalanine) were analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography and the tryptophan to large neutral amino acid ratio was calculated. Analysis for time active, lying, and engaging in aggressive interactions was carried out using 10-min scan samples to determine behavioral time budgets of the pigs on different experimental diets. Pigs fed diets with supplemented tryptophan had higher concentrations of both plasma tryptophan and tryptophan to large neutral amino acid ratio compared to the pigs fed the control diet (P < 0.05) in the first study, while no significant differences were detected for plasma tryptophan or the tryptophan to large neutral amino acid ratio in the second study. Diet did not have an effect (P > 0.05) on weight, feed intake or behavior throughout the studies. The results suggest that an increase in dietary tryptophan relative to large neutral amino acids, fed for 29 days, impacts circulating plasma tryptophan and therefore, serotonin concentrations in the pig. Despite an increase in circulating plasma tryptophan in response to an increase in dietary tryptophan in the first study, we failed to see an impact of the dietary treatment on body, tail and ear-biting behavior under the conditions studied.
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spelling pubmed-91985872022-06-16 Effect of Varying Levels of Dietary Tryptophan on Aggression and Abnormal Behavior in Growing Pigs Henry, Maggie Shoveller, Anna Kate O'Sullivan, Terri L. Niel, Lee Friendship, Robert Front Vet Sci Veterinary Science Body lesions, resulting from tail-biting and ear-biting, can result in decreased health and welfare in pigs. Tryptophan, an indispensable amino acid, is needed to support protein deposition, and the synthesis of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is important to mood, sleep-wake and eating patterns and might play a role in aggression and abnormal behavior. Two randomized block design studies were conducted to assess the influence of varying dietary tryptophan levels on aggression and abnormal behavior in 8-week-old pigs. Six diets were formulated which met or exceeded all nutrient requirements yet differed according to the dietary tryptophan content. The first study included control (100% standardized ileal digestible tryptophan), supplemented (175% standardized ileal digestible tryptophan), and supplement-plus (250% standardized ileal digestible tryptophan) experimental diets, while the second study included deficient (80% standardized ileal digestible tryptophan), adequate control (105% standardized ileal digestible tryptophan), and extra-tryptophan (130% standardized ileal digestible tryptophan) experimental diets. Concentrations of plasma tryptophan and large neutral amino acids (tyrosine, isoleucine, leucine, valine, and phenylalanine) were analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography and the tryptophan to large neutral amino acid ratio was calculated. Analysis for time active, lying, and engaging in aggressive interactions was carried out using 10-min scan samples to determine behavioral time budgets of the pigs on different experimental diets. Pigs fed diets with supplemented tryptophan had higher concentrations of both plasma tryptophan and tryptophan to large neutral amino acid ratio compared to the pigs fed the control diet (P < 0.05) in the first study, while no significant differences were detected for plasma tryptophan or the tryptophan to large neutral amino acid ratio in the second study. Diet did not have an effect (P > 0.05) on weight, feed intake or behavior throughout the studies. The results suggest that an increase in dietary tryptophan relative to large neutral amino acids, fed for 29 days, impacts circulating plasma tryptophan and therefore, serotonin concentrations in the pig. Despite an increase in circulating plasma tryptophan in response to an increase in dietary tryptophan in the first study, we failed to see an impact of the dietary treatment on body, tail and ear-biting behavior under the conditions studied. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-06-01 /pmc/articles/PMC9198587/ /pubmed/35720838 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.849970 Text en Copyright © 2022 Henry, Shoveller, O'Sullivan, Niel and Friendship. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Veterinary Science
Henry, Maggie
Shoveller, Anna Kate
O'Sullivan, Terri L.
Niel, Lee
Friendship, Robert
Effect of Varying Levels of Dietary Tryptophan on Aggression and Abnormal Behavior in Growing Pigs
title Effect of Varying Levels of Dietary Tryptophan on Aggression and Abnormal Behavior in Growing Pigs
title_full Effect of Varying Levels of Dietary Tryptophan on Aggression and Abnormal Behavior in Growing Pigs
title_fullStr Effect of Varying Levels of Dietary Tryptophan on Aggression and Abnormal Behavior in Growing Pigs
title_full_unstemmed Effect of Varying Levels of Dietary Tryptophan on Aggression and Abnormal Behavior in Growing Pigs
title_short Effect of Varying Levels of Dietary Tryptophan on Aggression and Abnormal Behavior in Growing Pigs
title_sort effect of varying levels of dietary tryptophan on aggression and abnormal behavior in growing pigs
topic Veterinary Science
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9198587/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35720838
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.849970
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