Thiamine Pyrophosphate Effects on Newborn Piglets as a Measure of Vitality and Survival Indicators

TL;DR

Giving thiamine pyrophosphate to sows before birth improves piglet vitality, behavior, and survival, and shortens labor duration.

Contribution

This study demonstrates that prophylactic TPP administration to sows enhances neonatal piglet vitality and survival indicators.

Findings

TPP-treated sows had shorter farrowing durations and piglets with higher vitality scores.

Piglets from TPP-treated sows suckled longer and had higher weight gains at 21 days.

TPP improved Apgar scores and behavioral vitality in newborn piglets.

Abstract

During the expulsion phase and birth of piglets, there are diverse stress factors that may reduce the vitality of the newborn piglets and can make piglets less adaptable to life outside the uterus by presenting greater physiological, metabolic, and behavioral alterations. For these reasons, diverse studies have focused on developing protocols that increase the newborn’s vitality. These investigations were mainly based on strategies focused on administering energetic supplements. In this regard, a recent study observed that the prophylactic administration of thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP) to sows at the end of gestation can increase the percentage of neonates with high vitality. To investigate this, the objective of this study was to evaluate the prophylactic effect of TPP on the vitality scores of piglets based on their behavior and survival. The results showed that prophylactic administration of TPP to sows at the end of gestation increased the percentage of neonates, with higher scores in the parameters of movement ability and number of completed circles around the pen. Furthermore, the newborn piglets of TPP-treated sows presented higher clinical vitality scores, suckled the teat for longer periods, and obtained a higher weight gain at 21 days.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the prophylactic effect of thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP) on the vitality scores of piglets based on their behavior and survival. A total of 149 piglets born from 15 multiparous sows were evaluated. The sows were randomly divided into two groups, control and TPP, with treatments administered 24 and 12 h before the expected farrowing date. The duration of farrowing was recorded. Furthermore, for all newborns, the Apgar vitality scale, teat suckling, newborn weight and weight at weaning, piglet vitality based on behavior (at birth and at 24 h), and skin temperature (at birth and at 24 h) were evaluated. The results indicated that the sows treated with TPP presented a lower farrowing duration (p = 0.0060) and their piglets exhibited a higher percentage in the piglet vitality-based behavior score (>50%). In addition, the newborn piglets of TPP-treated sows, which exhibited higher scores in behavior parameters, also displayed higher scores (>80%) in the Apgar vitality scale (>8), suckled on the teat for longer periods of time, and had higher daily weight gain (p < 0.0001). Our findings suggest that administering TPP at the end of gestation may shorten labor while also increasing the vitality of newborns. Therefore, it could be considered that, in practice, the administration of this treatment could have an impact on the energy that sows need during the farrowing process for the initiation of uterine contractions and abdominal effort. Therefore, this treatment could have an impact on the productivity and well-being of sows with a history of dystocic farrowing, which can increase the incidence of endometritis, vulvar discharge, placental retention, or mastitis–metritis–agalactia syndrome—alterations that can result in the reduced growth of piglets and a higher mortality before weaning. Therefore, the application of this treatment could not only reduce the probability of sows presenting these problems but perhaps also increase the probability of their offspring surviving in the first days after birth.

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