Identification of Biomarkers of Stress in Meat of Pigs Managed under Different Mixing Treatments
Mamen Oliván *
Área de Sistemas de Producción Animal, SERIDA, Apdo.13, 33300 Villaviciosa, Asturias, Spain
Verónica Fernández-Suárez
Área de Sistemas de Producción Animal, SERIDA, Apdo.13, 33300 Villaviciosa, Asturias, Spain
Fernando Díaz-Martínez
Área de Sistemas de Producción Animal, SERIDA, Apdo.13, 33300 Villaviciosa, Asturias, Spain
Verónica Sierra
Área de Sistemas de Producción Animal, SERIDA, Apdo.13, 33300 Villaviciosa, Asturias, Spain and Departamento de Morfología y Biología Celular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Oviedo, C/ Julián Clavería s/n, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
Ana Coto-Montes
Departamento de Morfología y Biología Celular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Oviedo, C/ Julián Clavería s/n, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
Beatriz de Luxán-Delgado
Departamento de Morfología y Biología Celular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Oviedo, C/ Julián Clavería s/n, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
Raquel Peña
Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular , Servei de Bioquímica Clínica Veterinària, Facultat de Veterinària, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
Anna Bassols
Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular , Servei de Bioquímica Clínica Veterinària, Facultat de Veterinària, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
Emma Fàbrega
Animal Welfare Subprogram, IRTA, Veïnat de Sies s/n, 17121 Monells, Girona, Spain
Antoni Dalmau
Animal Welfare Subprogram, IRTA, Veïnat de Sies s/n, 17121 Monells, Girona, Spain
Antonio Velarde
Animal Welfare Subprogram, IRTA, Veïnat de Sies s/n, 17121 Monells, Girona, Spain
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Aims: The objective of this work was to apply the proteomic approach for identification of animal-based stress biomarkers during pig muscle maturation.
Study Design: Pigs were subjected to management treatments that may promote stress, like mixing unfamiliar animals on farm and/or during transport and lairage before slaughter. Three pre-slaughter treatments were applied: UF-UTL (Unmixed on Farm - Unmixed during Transport and at Lairage), MF-UTL (Mixed in Farm - Unmixed during Transport and at Lairage) and MF-MTL (Mixed in Farm - Mixed during Transport and at Lairage).
Methodology: Fifteen entire male pigs were used in this experiment. At slaughter, blood samples were taken for biochemical analysis. Meat quality traits (pH, electrical conductivity, drip loss, meat colour) were measured and muscle samples from the Longissimus thoracis were taken within the first 24 h post-mortem and used for analysis of total antioxidant activity (TAA) and sarcoplasmic protein profile study by SDS-PAGE.
Results: Mixing treatments (MF-UTL and MF-MTL) provoked faster muscle pH post-mortem decline (P= .009), lower total antioxidant activity (P< .001) and changes in some key proteins, like the heat shock 70kDa protein-1B (P= .040), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase “GAPDH” (P= .047), lactate dehydrogenase-A “LDH-A” (P< .001) and adenylate kinase isoenzyme-1 “AK-1” (P< .001). Furthermore, serum molecules related to fat metabolism (LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides) and changes of muscle proteins involved in the adenine nucleotide metabolism (AK-1) and glycolysis regulation (piruvate kinase “PK” and GAPDH) allowed accurate prediction of muscle pH and discriminated correctly 87% of meat samples into “no-mixing” or “mixing” treatments.
Conclusions: Early monitorization (within 24 h after slaughter) of selected biomarkers could be used in the meat industry as a tool for detection of situations of pre-slaughter stress related to animal mixing practices. However more research is needed in order to validate these results on a broader animal population.
Keywords: Stress, biomarker, sarcoplasmic proteins, fat metabolism, pig, meat quality