2022 Volume 10 Issue 1 Pages 39-46
Original from Hungary, Mangalica pigs accumulate fat as its breed characteristics. This study aimed to shed light into the underlying mechanisms that confer this unique feature to Mangalica. Thus, we evaluated the histology and gene expression profile of Mangalica adipose tissue and compared them with those of commercial pigs (LWD and Camborogh). Fat thickness measurements indicated that Mangalica back fat was thicker than that of commercial pigs from the postnatal period. Moreover, the fat accumulation pattern differed between the breeds and the volume of the adipocytes from Mangalica back fat was larger than that of commercial pigs (P < 0.05). Noteworthily, the levels of adipocyte-specific genes related to metabolic functions (HSL, FASN, aP2) were low in Mangalica fat tissue, whereas those of KLF4, a marker for preadipocytes, were high (P < 0.05). Altogether, these findings suggest that a fat-promoting genetic profile confers metabolic and cellular features to Mangalica pigs from early developmental stages that differentiates them from commercial pigs.
