Spontaneous helping in pigs is mediated by helper's social attention and distress signals of individuals in need.

Helping behaviour is of special interest for prosociality because it appears to be motivated by the needs of others. We developed a novel paradigm to investigate helping in pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) and tested 75 individuals in eight groups in their home pens. Two identical compartments were attached to the pen, equipped with a window, and a door that could be opened from the outside by lifting a handle. Pigs in all groups spontaneously opened doors during a 5-day familiarization. During testing, each pig was isolated once from its group and placed in one of the two compartments, in a counter-balanced order. In 85% of cases, pigs released a trapped group member from the test compartment within 20 min (median latency = 2.2 min). Pigs were more likely and quicker to open a door to free the trapped pig than to open a door to an empty compartment. Pigs who spent more time looking at the window of the compartment containing the trapped pig were more likely to help. Distress signals by the trapped pig increased its probability of being helped. Responses are consistent with several criteria for identifying targeted helping, but results can also be explained by selfish motivations.

New Perspectives In The Objective Evaluation Of Animal Welfare, With Focus On The Domestic Pig.

Animal welfare can be viewed as the result of integrating repeated affective evaluations of success in coping with environmental challenges, i.e., subjective challenge adequacy.  The present work summarizes why established physiological and behavioral welfare parameters are inadequate to assess challenge adequacy. Behavioral tests based on the mood-congruent judgment effect and physiologic parameters based on components of the somatotropic axis are proposed as an alternative. Here, the judgment bias measures an animal's subjective confidence to cope successfully with a challenge, which is in turn modulated by the animal's previous experience. The somatotropic axis incorporates the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) and its binding proteins (IGFBP), which are involved in the regulation of metabolism and growth. First results indicate that in particular IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 react with higher latency and higher inertness to short-term stressful events than established physiological stress parameters. Before these indicators can be utilized for overall welfare assessment, further validation studies are necessary that provide more insights into how repeatable the measurements are under different conditions and which other factors may confound the measures.

Negative Magnetic Sorting Preserves the Functionality of Ex Vivo Cultivated Non-Adherent Human Monocytes.

BACKGROUND: Monocyte-derived macrophages or dendritic cells are of increasing interest for cellular therapeutic products to treat inflammation-related diseases and cancer. However, the isolation method and the culture conditions applied influence the functionality of cells. For some approaches, the adhesion-induced differentiation into macrophages must be prevented to maintain functions attributed to circulating monocytes. The effects of the isolation method on the functionality of non-adherent peripheral monocytes have not yet been investigated. METHODS: The present study examines the impact of the isolation method on cell viability, growth, metabolism, inflammation-induced cytokine response, migratory capacity, and adherence of non-adherent human peripheral monocytes. The monocytes were isolated by magnetic sorting using either positive or negative selection and cultured in cell-repellent plates. RESULTS: The purity and yield of monocytes were higher after positive selection. However, the adherence and migratory capacity, cytokine response, and metabolic activity were decreased compared to negatively selected monocytes. The impaired functionality presented in combination with cell shrinking, thus, indicates the start of cell viability loss. Negatively selected non-adherent monocytes showed no impairment in functionality, and the viability remained high. In conclusion, this approach is better suited for conducting ex vivo modifications of monocytes prior to the intended experimental setup or therapeutic application.

Mimicking of Blood Flow Results in a Distinct Functional Phenotype in Human Non-Adherent Classical Monocytes.

Ex vivo culture conditions during the manufacturing process impact the therapeutic effect of cell-based products. Mimicking blood flow during ex vivo culture of monocytes has beneficial effects by preserving their migratory ability. However, the effects of shear flow on the inflammatory response have not been studied so far. Hence, the present study investigates the effects of shear flow on both blood-derived naïve and activated monocytes. The activation of monocytes was experimentally induced by granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), which acts as a pro-survival and growth factor on monocytes with a potential role in inflammation. Monocytes were cultured under dynamic (=shear flow) or static conditions while preventing monocytes' adherence by using cell-repellent surfaces to avoid adhesion-induced differentiation. After cultivation (40 h), cell size, viability, and cytokine secretion were evaluated, and the cells were further applied to functional tests on their migratory capacity, adherence, and metabolic activity. Our results demonstrate that the application of shear flow resulted in a decreased pro-inflammatory signaling concurrent with increased secretion of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 and increased migratory capacity. These features may improve the efficacy of monocyte-based therapeutic products as both the unwanted inflammatory signaling in blood circulation and the loss of migratory ability will be prevented.

Interference of stress with the somatotropic axis in pigs - lights on new biomarkers.

The acceptance of animal products is increasingly associated with standardized animal welfare, which relates to appropriate animal husbandry from birth to slaughter. In particular, shipment to the slaughterhouse is considered as a critical process exposing the animals to a number of, in part severe, stressors. New biomarkers may be useful for the assessment of animal welfare. The IGF-system has been assessed in a commercial pig transport in conjunction with established markers of stress response. Furthermore, the effect of repeated restraint as an experimental model for repeated acute stress was investigated. During shipment from farm to slaughterhouse, plasma concentrations of IGFBP-3 and IGFBP-2 were significantly reduced (p < 0.01). After shipment, the plasma concentrations of IGFBP-5, glucocorticoids and IL-2 increased but decreased after lairage (p < 0.05) whereas IGF-1 decreased after shipment (p < 0.01). Repeated acute stress increased concentrations of IGFBP-3 and IGF-1 in exsanguination blood (p < 0.05). Differential IGF- signatures can indicate altered endocrine or metabolic control and thus contain complex animal-related information. The somatotropic axis may be of particular interest when established biomarkers such as cortisol, glucose, or lactate cannot be used for the assessment of animal stress or welfare.