The Effects of Play Behavior, Feeding, and Time of Day on Salivary Concentrations of sIgA in Calves
The focus of animal welfare science has shifted over the last decades from efforts to avoid negative states to ways of allowing animals the experience of positive emotions. They may influence physiological processes in farmed animals, potentially providing health benefits; in addition, the physiolog...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2019-09-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/9/657 |
| _version_ | 1819107870399004672 |
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| author | Katrin Spiesberger Stephanie Lürzel Martina Patzl Andreas Futschik Susanne Waiblinger |
| author_facet | Katrin Spiesberger Stephanie Lürzel Martina Patzl Andreas Futschik Susanne Waiblinger |
| author_sort | Katrin Spiesberger |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The focus of animal welfare science has shifted over the last decades from efforts to avoid negative states to ways of allowing animals the experience of positive emotions. They may influence physiological processes in farmed animals, potentially providing health benefits; in addition, the physiological changes might be used as indicators of emotional states. We investigated calves’ salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) concentrations with regard to a possible circadian rhythm and two situations that elicit positive emotions. Ten saliva samples of 14 calves were taken on two consecutive days; within the course of a day we observed a significant decline in salivary sIgA concentrations at 14:00 h. Further, we probed the animals before and after milk feeding and, contrarily to our prediction, detected lower sIgA concentrations 5 min after feeding than 15 min before. A probable explanation might be an increase in salivary flow rate caused by milk ingestion. We also took samples before and after we stimulated play behavior in calves. There was no significant difference in sIgA concentrations between samples taken before and after play. Although there was a significant correlation between the change in sIgA concentrations and the amount of play behavior shown, the correlation depended on an unexpected decrease of sIgA in animals that played little, and thus, does not support our hypothesis. In general, the data showed a large variability that might arise from different factors that are difficult to standardize in animals. Thus, the use of salivary sIgA concentrations as a marker of positive emotions in calves is not supported conclusively by the present data. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T03:00:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-775dd2b526b34f96b6182fafda666061 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T03:00:54Z |
| publishDate | 2019-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-775dd2b526b34f96b6182fafda6660612022-12-21T18:41:11ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152019-09-019965710.3390/ani9090657ani9090657The Effects of Play Behavior, Feeding, and Time of Day on Salivary Concentrations of sIgA in CalvesKatrin Spiesberger0Stephanie Lürzel1Martina Patzl2Andreas Futschik3Susanne Waiblinger4Institute of Animal Welfare Science, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Animal Welfare Science, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Immunology, Department for Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Applied Statistics, JK University Linz, Altenberger Str. 69, 4040 Linz, AustriaInstitute of Animal Welfare Science, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, AustriaThe focus of animal welfare science has shifted over the last decades from efforts to avoid negative states to ways of allowing animals the experience of positive emotions. They may influence physiological processes in farmed animals, potentially providing health benefits; in addition, the physiological changes might be used as indicators of emotional states. We investigated calves’ salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) concentrations with regard to a possible circadian rhythm and two situations that elicit positive emotions. Ten saliva samples of 14 calves were taken on two consecutive days; within the course of a day we observed a significant decline in salivary sIgA concentrations at 14:00 h. Further, we probed the animals before and after milk feeding and, contrarily to our prediction, detected lower sIgA concentrations 5 min after feeding than 15 min before. A probable explanation might be an increase in salivary flow rate caused by milk ingestion. We also took samples before and after we stimulated play behavior in calves. There was no significant difference in sIgA concentrations between samples taken before and after play. Although there was a significant correlation between the change in sIgA concentrations and the amount of play behavior shown, the correlation depended on an unexpected decrease of sIgA in animals that played little, and thus, does not support our hypothesis. In general, the data showed a large variability that might arise from different factors that are difficult to standardize in animals. Thus, the use of salivary sIgA concentrations as a marker of positive emotions in calves is not supported conclusively by the present data.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/9/657immunoglobulin Asalivacattleemotionscircadian rhythm |
| spellingShingle | Katrin Spiesberger Stephanie Lürzel Martina Patzl Andreas Futschik Susanne Waiblinger The Effects of Play Behavior, Feeding, and Time of Day on Salivary Concentrations of sIgA in Calves Animals immunoglobulin A saliva cattle emotions circadian rhythm |
| title | The Effects of Play Behavior, Feeding, and Time of Day on Salivary Concentrations of sIgA in Calves |
| title_full | The Effects of Play Behavior, Feeding, and Time of Day on Salivary Concentrations of sIgA in Calves |
| title_fullStr | The Effects of Play Behavior, Feeding, and Time of Day on Salivary Concentrations of sIgA in Calves |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Effects of Play Behavior, Feeding, and Time of Day on Salivary Concentrations of sIgA in Calves |
| title_short | The Effects of Play Behavior, Feeding, and Time of Day on Salivary Concentrations of sIgA in Calves |
| title_sort | effects of play behavior feeding and time of day on salivary concentrations of siga in calves |
| topic | immunoglobulin A saliva cattle emotions circadian rhythm |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/9/657 |
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