An experimental model for iron deficiency anemia in sows and offspring induced by blood removal during gestation

Martin Peter Rydal, Sheeva Bhattarai*, Jens Peter Nielsen

*Corresponding author for this work

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4 Citations (Scopus)
21 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Anemia is a common condition in sow herds. We aimed to study the effects of severe iron deficiency during gestation on sow and piglet health outcomes with an experimental model for blood-removal-induced iron deficiency anemia. In total, 18 multiparous sows (8 in trial I and 10 in trial II) were allocated to either a blood removal group or a control group. Hematologic parameters were monitored at regular intervals and the tissue iron concentrations were measured for the sows and newborn piglets after farrowing. In trial I, the mean liver iron content was reduced to 46.7 µg/g in the blood removal sows compared to 252.6 µg/g in the controls (p < 0.001). In trial II, sows in the blood removal group had lower iron content in the liver (147.8 µg/g), kidney (46.3 µg/g) and spleen (326.5 µg/g) compared to the control sows (323.2 µg/g, 81.3 µg/g and 728.9 µg/g, respectively; p = 0.009, 0.016, 0.01, respectively). In trial I, piglets from sows in the blood removal group had significantly decreased hematocrit (Hct), red blood cells (RBC) and a tendency for reduced hemoglobin (Hb) compared to the control piglets. We established a blood removal model that resulted in mild-to severe degrees of sow anemia and reduced tissue iron stores at farrowing.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2848
JournalAnimals
Volume11
Issue number10
ISSN2076-2615
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • Anemia model
  • Erythrocyte indices
  • Farrowing
  • Piglet viability
  • Pregnancy
  • Stillbirth
  • Swine

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