The Bromsulfophtalein (BSP) test for liver function has been widely conducted on human subjects and the results examined in detail. But this test has hardly at all been carried out on domestic animals such as the pig. Examination was thus made in the present study of BSP retention time over a period of 30 minutes in fattening pigs 1 to 6 months of age. Serum enzyme activity was determined as an index of liver function in relation to serum albumin content. The following results were obtained :
1. BSP retention time changed with physiological development during aging.
This time increased by 2.5% at 1 month to 4.0% at 3 months and subsequently decreased to 2.5% at six months.
2. Retention time was seen to be related to serum enzyme activity and serum albumin content.
In GPT, change in ALP and GOT occurred in a manner different from that noted for BSP retention time and no correlation could be detected. But change in GGT and serum albumin was observed to be similar to that in retention time and the two were seen significantly correlated. The equation for regression and the coefficient of correlation were determined as y=4.55x+15.7 (r=0.643**) and y=0.25x+2.94 (r=0.747**), respectively.

View full abstract

There are three native pigs found in Okinawa and Amami-Ohshima, namely Aguh, Ayoh and Ohshima-Shimabuta. They are valuable local genetic resources and their meat is highly desirable. Especially, the melting point of the fat is low and delicious. Despite their importance, information concerning genetic background of Okinawa and Amami native pigs is lacking. In this study, we analyzed the mitochondrial DNA D-loop region of Okinawa and Amami native pigs to clarify their genetic background. In total, 18 pig specimens of Aguh, Ayoh and Ohshima-Shimabuta six each were analyzed. Two haplotypes were observed amongst the sampled native pigs, one in Aguh and Ohshima-Shimabuta (Type 1), while other in Ayoh (Type 2). This result suggested that Ayoh has a different genetic background in Okinawa and Amami native pigs. In recent years, population size of those native pigs has considerably reduced. In order to increase their population size and reintegrate their morphological traits, they were crossed with other pig breeds. Aguh and Ohshima-Shimabuta were crossed with European breeds such as Berkshire and Hampshire to improve their meat quality. In the phylogenetic tree constructed with reported D-loop sequences of other breeds of domestic pigs and wild boars, Okinawa and Amami native pigs were clustered with Asian pigs and wild boars. The Asian cluster was further grouped into two subclusters with one containing Ayoh and Japanese wild boars suggesting their close genetic relationships while the remaining subcluster includes Aguh, Ohshima-Shimabuta and European Berkshire and Large White breeds. These results also supported the history of Okinawa and Amami native pigs.

View full abstract

Using Monte Carlo simulation, two schemes of restricted selection were compared under the condition of closed swine breeding. The first selection scheme is the combination of ordinary BLUP evaluation and linear programming technique (BLUP+LP), and the second one is based on the restricted BLUP selection (RBLUP). Back-fat thickness (BF) and daily gain (DG) were selected over 7 generations to improve them into the direction determined by the intended ratio of genetic gains of the two traits. The breeding structure and genetic parameters were chosen as to emulate an actual pig line “HIGOSAKA 302” developed in Kumamoto prefecture. The two selection schemes gave a similar cumulative genetic gain averaged over 500 replicates throughout all generations when the parameters are known. In all generations, however, the variance of genetic gains among replicates was much smaller under BLUP+LP selection, and the difference tended to become larger with the advance of generation. When a genetic correlation with estimation error was used in the estimation of breeding values, both selection schemes could not exactly control the direction of genetic gains. However, BLUP+LP selection was robust to the estimation error of genetic correlation. Both selection schemes gave a similar inbreeding coefficient throughout all generations. These results suggest that BLUP+LP selection will be preferable to RBLUP selection in closed herds of swine.

View full abstract