Comparison of the Effect of Two Different Handling Conditions at Slaughter in Saliva Analytes in Pigs
María Botía,
Damián Escribano,
Alba Ortín-Bustillo,
María J. López-Martínez,
Pablo Fuentes,
Francisco J. Jiménez-Caparrós,
Juan L. Hernández-Gómez,
Antonio Avellaneda,
José J. Cerón,
Camila P. Rubio,
Asta Tvarijonaviciute,
Silvia Martínez-Subiela,
Marina López-Arjona,
Fernando Tecles
Affiliations
María Botía
Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Analysis (Interlab-UMU), Veterinary School, Regional Campus of International Excellence ‘Campus Mare Nostrum’, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo s/n, 30100 Espinardo, Spain
Damián Escribano
Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Analysis (Interlab-UMU), Veterinary School, Regional Campus of International Excellence ‘Campus Mare Nostrum’, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo s/n, 30100 Espinardo, Spain
Alba Ortín-Bustillo
Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Analysis (Interlab-UMU), Veterinary School, Regional Campus of International Excellence ‘Campus Mare Nostrum’, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo s/n, 30100 Espinardo, Spain
María J. López-Martínez
Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Analysis (Interlab-UMU), Veterinary School, Regional Campus of International Excellence ‘Campus Mare Nostrum’, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo s/n, 30100 Espinardo, Spain
Pablo Fuentes
Cátedra de Seguridad y Sostenibilidad Alimentaria Grupo Fuertes-Universidad de Murcia, 30003 Murcia, Spain
Francisco J. Jiménez-Caparrós
Cátedra de Seguridad y Sostenibilidad Alimentaria Grupo Fuertes-Universidad de Murcia, 30003 Murcia, Spain
Juan L. Hernández-Gómez
Cátedra de Seguridad y Sostenibilidad Alimentaria Grupo Fuertes-Universidad de Murcia, 30003 Murcia, Spain
Antonio Avellaneda
Cátedra de Seguridad y Sostenibilidad Alimentaria Grupo Fuertes-Universidad de Murcia, 30003 Murcia, Spain
José J. Cerón
Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Analysis (Interlab-UMU), Veterinary School, Regional Campus of International Excellence ‘Campus Mare Nostrum’, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo s/n, 30100 Espinardo, Spain
Camila P. Rubio
Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Analysis (Interlab-UMU), Veterinary School, Regional Campus of International Excellence ‘Campus Mare Nostrum’, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo s/n, 30100 Espinardo, Spain
Asta Tvarijonaviciute
Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Analysis (Interlab-UMU), Veterinary School, Regional Campus of International Excellence ‘Campus Mare Nostrum’, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo s/n, 30100 Espinardo, Spain
Silvia Martínez-Subiela
Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Analysis (Interlab-UMU), Veterinary School, Regional Campus of International Excellence ‘Campus Mare Nostrum’, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo s/n, 30100 Espinardo, Spain
Marina López-Arjona
Department of Animal and Food Science, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Cerdanyola de Vallés, Spain
Fernando Tecles
Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical Analysis (Interlab-UMU), Veterinary School, Regional Campus of International Excellence ‘Campus Mare Nostrum’, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo s/n, 30100 Espinardo, Spain
In this report, different handling conditions at slaughterhouse were studied to assess changes in salivary biomarkers. For this purpose, finishing pigs were divided into two groups, one in which handling was improved to minimize stress (Group A, n = 24, transported and stabled at the slaughterhouse at low density without mixing with unfamiliar animals throughout the whole process) and another one in which animals had a more stressful handling process (Group B, n = 24, transported and stabled at high density with unfamiliar animals). Saliva samples were taken the day before transport to the slaughterhouse at 8:00 a.m. (B0) and 12:00 a.m. (B4), and the day of slaughter just after unloading animals at the slaughterhouse at approximately 8:00 a.m. (S0) and after 4 h of lairage at approximately 12:00 a.m. (S4). Group B showed significantly higher cortisol, total esterase activity, oxytocin, adenosine deaminase and haptoglobin levels than the Group A at both S0 and S4 sampling times, and higher levels of calprotectin and creatine kinase at S4 sampling time. This report indicates that differences in the way in which the pigs are handled at the slaughterhouse can lead to changes in salivary biomarkers and opens the possibility of the use of biomarker at slaughter to monitor handling conditions.
