• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.59-64
• /
• 2008

In our previous study, we found that spermine and putrescine inhibited spontaneous and acetylcholine (ACh)-induced contractions of guinea-pig stomach via inhibition of L-type voltage- dependent calcium current ($VDCC_L$). In this study, we also studied the effect of spermidine on mechanical contractions and calcium channel current ($I_{Ba}$), and then compared its effects to those by spermine and putrescine. Spermidine inhibited spontaneous contraction of the gastric smooth muscle in a concentration-dependent manner ($IC_{50}=1.1{\pm}0.11mM$). Relationship between inhibition of contraction and calcium current by spermidine was studied using 50 mM high $K^+$-induced contraction: Spermidine (5 mM) significantly reduced high $K^+$ (50 mM)-induced contraction to 37${\pm}$4.7% of the control (p<0.05), and inhibitory effect of spermidine on $I_{Ba}$ was also observed at a wide range of test potential in current/voltage (I/V) relationship. Pre- and post-application of spermidine (5 mM) also significantly inhibited carbachol (CCh) and ACh-induced initial and phasic contractions. Finally, caffeine (10 mM)-induced contraction which is activated by $Ca^{2+}$-induced $Ca^{2+}$ release (CICR), was also inhibited by pretreatment of spermidine (5 mM). These findings suggest that spermidine inhibits spontaneous and CCh-induced contraction via inhibition of $VDCC_L$ and $Ca^{2+}$ releasing mechanism in guinea-pig stomach.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.29 no.5
• /
• pp.739-746
• /
• 2016

A total of 152 pig farms were randomly selected from the five provinces in South Korea. During the experiment, the average temperature and relative humidity was $24.7^{\circ}C$ and 74% in summer and $2.4^{\circ}C$ and 53% in winter, respectively. The correlation between floor space allowance (FSA) and productivity index was analyzed, including non-productive sow days (NPD), number of weaners (NOW), survival rate (SR), appearance rate of A-grade pork (ARA), and days at a slaughter weight of 110 kg (d-SW) at different growth stages. The objectives of the present study were i) to determine the effect of FSA on the pig productivity index and ii) to suggest the minimum FSA for pigs based on scientific baseline data. For the pregnant sow, NPD could be decreased if pregnant sows were raised with a medium level (M) of FSA (3.10 to $3.67m^2/head$) while also keeping the pig house clean which improves hygiene, and operating the ventilation system properly. For the farrowing sows, the NOW tended to decrease as the FSA increased. Similarly, a high level of FSA (H) is significantly negative with weaner SR of farrowing sows (p-value = 0.017), indicating this FSA tends to depress SR. Therefore, a FSA of 2.30 to $6.40m^2/head$ (very low) could be appropriate for weaners because a limited space can provide a sense of security and protection from external interruptions. The opposite trend was observed that an increase in floor space (> $1.12m^2/head$ leads to increase the SR of growing pigs. For the fattening pigs, H level of FSA was negatively correlated with SR, but M level of FSA was positively correlated with SR, indicating that SR tended to increase with the FSA of 1.10 to $1.27m^2/head$. In contrast, ARA of male fattening pigs showed opposite results. H level of FSA (1.27 to $1.47m^2/head$) was suggested to increase productivity because ARA was most affected by H level of space allowance with positive correlation ($R^2=0.523$). The relationship between the FSA and d-SW of fattening pigs was hard to identify because of the low $R^2$ value. However, the farms that provided a relatively large floor space (1.27 to $1.54m^2/head$) during the winter period showed d-SW was significantly and negatively affected by FSA.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.44 no.1
• /
• pp.135-144
• /
• 2002

An experiment was conducted to evaluate a ventilation system, which was devised to encourage farmers to use the enclosed growing and finishing pig housing system. A roof-air-entry ventilation system in winter and a side-wall-air-entry system in summer were evaluated. Air flow rate on the floor level which is the low part of pen and the living area of pigs in the enclosed growing and finishing pig house during winter was measured at 0 to 0.19 m/s at the minimum ventilation efficiency of 1,440 $m^{3}/h$. During summer the air flow rate was detected at 0.07 to 0.42 m/s at the maximum ventilation efficiency of 24,000 $m^{3}/h$. Therefore, it is concluded that the side-wall ventilation system is suitable for growing and finishing pigs in the enclosed house during the days of mid-summer and the roof-ventilation system was suitable during the coldest days of mid-winter. In addition, although the enclosed pig house has the system in which air exhausts through only one side wall, air should enter through both-side walls for the better ventilation performance.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.63-70
• /
• 2013

Experiments in a pilot-scale hybrid multi-stage unit system (HMUS) combination of ATAD and EGSB followed by SBR process for pig slurry treatment were conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of using autothermal thermophilic aerobic digestion (ATAD) and expended granular sludge bed (EGSB) followed by sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system. Contaminants in pig slurry with high organic matter, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) content were completely removed in the combined process. The highest removal rate for CODcr among contaminants in the feed pig slurry was attained by about 43.3% in ATAD unit process. Also TS removal rate of 96.5% was attained and the highest in the next coagulation unit process. The highest removal rate of CODcr under operating parameter conditions of OLR(organic loading rate), 3-6Kg $COD/m^3{\cdot}day$ and line velocity, 1.5-4m/h was earned at 3days of HRT. The disinfection of pathogens was effective at 50,000mg/L of TS in ATAD unit process. Biogas production per organic removal was $2.3{\sim}8.5m^3/kgTS{\cdot}d$ (average $5.2m^3/kgTS{\cdot}d$) in EGSB unit process. The average removal rates of CODcr 71.7%, TS 64.1%, TN 45.9%, and TP 50.4% were earned in the intermittent aeration SBR unit process.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.29 no.9
• /
• pp.1338-1344
• /
• 2016

The present study was carried out to evaluate the anti-obesity effect of different concentrations of extracts of hot air-dried ramie leaf (HR) and freeze-dried ramie leaf (FR) in 3T3-L1 cells and pig preadipocytes. To analyze the effect on cell proliferation, cells were treated with $25{\mu}g/mL$ or $100{\mu}g/mL$ HR or FR extract for 2 days. Cell differentiation was evaluated by measuring glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activities and intracellular triglyceride content. Treatment with either HR or FR extracts inhibited the proliferation of 3T3-L1 cells and pig preadipocytes in a dose-dependent manner. HR extract treatment inhibited the differentiation of both cell types more effectively than FR treatment. The extent of triglyceride accumulation decreased significantly in both cells following either HR or FR treatment. Furthermore, LPL activity significantly decreased after treatment with HR or FR extract. These results indicated that HR and FR extracts may inhibit proliferation and differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells and pig preadipocytes. Further studies are needed to explore the anti-obesity effect of HR and FR extracts.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
• /
• v.32 no.5
• /
• pp.275-279
• /
• 2023

Throughout the 20th century, the transition of pig farms from extensive to intensive commercial operations amplified the risk of disease transmission, particularly involving African swine fever (ASF). Real-time temperature monitoring systems have emerged as essential tools for early ASF diagnosis. In this paper, we introduce new real-time temperature monitoring ear tags (RTMEs) modeled after existing ear tag designs. Our crafted Pig-Temp platforms have three primary advantages. First, they can be effortlessly attached to pig ears, ensuring superior compatibility. Second, they enable real-time temperature detection, and the data can be displayed on a personal computer or smartphone application. Furthermore, they demonstrate excellent measurement accuracy, ranging from 98.9% to 99.8% at temperatures between 2.2 and 360℃. A linear regression approach enables fever symptoms associated with ASF to be identified within 3 min using RTMEs. The communication range extends to approximately 12 m (452 m²), enabling measurements from an estimated 75 to 2,260 pigs per gateway. These newly developed Pig-Temp platforms offer singifcant enhancement of early ASF detection.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.121-126
• /
• 2012

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of in vitro culture media on embryonic development of in vitro-matured (IVM) oocytes after parthenogenetic activation (PA) in pigs. Immature pig oocytes were matured in TCM-199 supplemented with porcine follicular fluid, cysteine, pyruvate, EGF, insulin, and hormones for the first 22 h and then further cultured in hormone-free medium for an additional 22~26 h. IVM oocytes were activated by electric pulses and cultured in porcine zygote medium-3 (PZM-3) and North Carolina State University-23 supplemented with essential and non-essential amino acids (NCSU-23aa). These media were further modified by supplementing 2.77 mM myo-inositol, 0.34 mM trisodium citrate, and $10{\mu}M$ ${\beta}$-mercaptoethanol (designated as mPZM-3 and mNCSU-23aa, respectively). Culture of PA embryos in mPZM-3 significantly increased development to the blastocyst stage than culture in NCSU-23aa (36.2% vs. 24.8%, p<0.05). Modified PZM-3 showed a significantly higher blastocyst formation than NCSU-23aa in both groups of embryos that were activated at 44 h and 48 h of IVM (51.0% vs. 35.5% and 49.0% vs. 34.2% in oocytes activated at 44 h and 48 h of IVM, respectively). Irrespective of the follicle diameter where oocytes were collected, embryonic development to the blastocyst stage was increased (p<0.05) by the culture in mPZM-3 compared to culture in NCSU-23aa (25.9% vs. 34.2% and 32.9% vs. 44.8% in embryos derived from small and medium size follicles, respectively). Our results demonstrated that culture media had significant effect on preimplantation development PA embryos and that mPZM-3 was superior to mNCSU-23 in supporting development to the blastocyst stage in pigs. This beneficial effect of mPZM-3 on embryonic development was not impaired by other factors such as time of oocyte activation and origin of immature oocytes (small and medium size follicles).

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.183-191
• /
• 2008

This study was conducted to investigate the development and gene expression in miniature pig nuclear transfer (mNT) embryos produced under different osmolarity culture conditions. Control group of mNT embryos was cultured in PZM-3 for 6 days. Treatment group of mNT embryos was cultured in modified PZM-3 with NaCl (mPZM-3, 320 mOsmol) for 2 days, and then cultured in PZM-3 (270 mOsmol) for 4 days. Blastocyst formation rate of the treatment group was significantly higher than the control and the apoptosis rate was significantly lower in treatment group. Bax-$\alpha$ and caspase-3 mRNA expression were significantly higher in the control than the treatment group. Also, the majority of imprinting genes were expressed aberrantly in in vitro produced mNT blastocysts compared to in vivo derived blastocyst H19 and Xist mRNA expression were significantly lower in the control than the treatment group or in vivo. IGF2 mRNA expression was significantly higher in the control than the treatment group or in vivo. IGF2r mRNA expression was significantly lower in the control. Methylation profiles of individual DNA strands in H19 upstream T-DMR sequences showed a similar methylation status between treatment group and in vivo. These results indicate that the modification of osmolarity in culture medium at early culture stage could provide more beneficial culture environments for mNT embryos.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.249-255
• /
• 2017

In this experiment, we determined the effect of curcumin supplementation in freezing buffer for miniature pig sperm cryopreservation. Each ejaculate was diluted with modified Modena B extender and mixed with lactose-egg yolk (LEY extender, 80% v/v lactose solution [310 mM], 20% v/v egg yolk, and $100{\mu}g/mL$ kanamycin sulfate) and LEY-glycerol Orvus ES Paste (LEYGO, 89.5% v/v LEY, 5% v/v glycerol, 1.5% v/v Orvus ES Paste), 100 mM trehalose supplemented with 0, 10, 50, 100, and $500{\mu}M$ of curcumin from turmeric, respectively. Following equilibration, the 0.5 mL French straws were frozen and plunged into $LN_2$ tank for 7 days at least. Sperm parameter and oxidative byproducts were determined by the computer assisted sperm motility analysis (CASA) and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) as compared with each groups. Supplementation of curcumin had no effect on sperm motility, progressive motility and curvilinear velocity. However, average-path velocity and straight-line velocity were significantly higher in $10{\mu}M$ curcumin group ($100.9{\pm}8.8{\mu}m/s$, $61.7{\pm}2.9{\mu}m/s$, respectively) than control group ($77.8{\pm}3.9{\mu}m/s$, $46.4{\pm}3.0{\mu}m/s$, respectively) (p < 0.05). In addition, the level of the O2 radical and H2O2 were comparatively decreased in curcumin groups by evaluation of ethidium and DCF fluorescence. According to the results, curcumin can improve sperm kinetic variables and alleviate ROS induced cryoinjury to pig sperm.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.31 no.10
• /
• pp.1581-1590
• /
• 2018

Objective: The aim of this study was to clone alternative splicing isoforms of pig myoneurin (MYNN), predict the structure and function of coding protein, and study temporal and spatial expression characteristics of each transcript. Methods: Alternative splice isoforms of MYNN were identified using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and cloning techniques. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was employed to detect expression patterns in 11 tissues of Large White (LW) and Mashen (MS) pigs, and to study developmental expression patterns in cerebellum (CE), stomach (ST), and longissimus dorsi (LD). Results: The results showed that MYNN had two alternatively spliced isoforms, MYNN-1 (GenBank accession number: KY470829) and MYNN-2 (GenBank accession number: KY670835). MYNN-1 coding sequence (CDS) is composed of 1,830 bp encoding 609 AA, whereas MYNN-2 CDS is composed of 1,746 bp encoding 581 AA. MYNN-2 was 84 bp less than MYNN-1 and lacked the sixth exon. MYNN-2 was found to have one $C_2H_2$ type zinc finger protein domain less than MYNN-1. Two variants were ubiquitously expressed in all pig tissues, and there were significant differences in expression of different tissues (p<0.05; p<0.01). The expression of MYNN-1 was significantly higher than that of MYNN-2 in almost tissues (p<0.05; p<0.01), which testified that MYNN-1 is the main variant. The expression of two isoforms decreased gradually with increase of age in ST and CE of MS pig, whereas increased gradually in LW pig. In LD, the expression of two isoforms increased first and then decreased with increase of age in MS pig, and decreased gradually in LW pig. Conclusion: Two transcripts of pig MYNN were successfully cloned and MYNN-1 was main variant. MYNN was highly expressed in ST, CE, and LD, and their expression was regular. We speculated that MYNN plays important roles in digestion/absorption and skeletal muscle growth, whereas the specific mechanisms require further elucidation.