Relation of concentration of growth hormone in blood plasma to growth rate and carcass characteristics in the pig

1975 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Chappel ◽  
A. C. Dunkin
Keyword(s):  
Growth Hormone ◽  
Growth Rate ◽  
Blood Plasma ◽  
Relative Growth Rate ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Carcass Characteristics ◽  
Plasma Samples ◽  
Hormone Concentration ◽  
Plasma Growth Hormone ◽  
Relative Growth

SUMMARY1. Pig growth hormone (PGH) concentrations were measured in plasma samples from piglets of 3–4 to 7–8 weeks of age.2. Plasma PGH concentrations decreased significantly with age. No difference was observed between the hormone concentrations of gilts and barrows.3. Correlation coefficients were calculated between mean plasma growth hormone concentration over a 4-week period and several carcass characteristics and measures of growth rate. Plasma PGH over this period showed significant negative correlations with several measures of carcass backfat thickness at bacon weight. In barrows only, PGH concentrations showed a significant direct correlation with relative growth rate from 3 to 7 weeks.

GROWTH HORMONE RELATED TO INSULIN AND SUGAR IN NOCTURNAL BLOOD PLASMA OF LACTATING COWS

1976 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 767-773 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Halse ◽  
Anne Kristine Blom ◽  
K. Hove
Keyword(s):  
Growth Hormone ◽  
Blood Plasma ◽  
Immunoreactive Insulin ◽  
Plasma Samples ◽  
Plasma Growth Hormone ◽  
Lactating Cows ◽  
High Insulin ◽  
Plasma Immunoreactive Insulin ◽  
Correlation Tests ◽  
Lactation Cycle

ABSTRACT Nocturnal blood plasma samples from about 190 indoor-fed cows at varying stages of the lactation cycle showed wide variations in the concentrations of sugar (43–88 mg/100 ml) and acetoacetate (0.12–8.7 mg/100 ml). Plasma immunoreactive insulin decreased and acetoacetate increased with decreasing sugar. Plasma growth hormone (GH) was significantly correlated to insulin (r = −0.24, P < 0.001) and to sugar (r = −0.15, P < 0.05), but not to acetoacetate (r = +0.13). Since the plasma level of GH in bovines is known to vary widely from hour to hour, individual cows are poorly represented by single determinations of the hormone. However, in accordance with the results from the correlation tests, different GH averages, about 11 and 9 ng/ml, were found for groups of animals with plasma sugar respectively below and above 70 mg/100 ml. By subgrouping according to insulin levels within sugar ranges, categories could be singled out with GH averages as different as 12.7 ng/ml (low sugar - low insulin) and 8.3 ng/ml (high sugar - high insulin). The findings are consistent with the view that GH is involved in the regulation of energy metabolism in bovines. But no support has been provided for the hypothesis of GH hypersecretion as a cause of ketosis in cows.

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