Cortisol and oxidative stress marker levels in wild boar serum bred in Campania Regional Game production center (South Italy)

Animal welfare can be assessed by measurements of relevant stress markers. The adrenal cortex response does occur in diverse difficult situations and is useful in welfare assessment, in particular the production of cortisol acts in providing extra energy for forthcoming activity. Furthermore, a high level of ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species), due to an increased production of oxidant species and/or a decreased efficacy of antioxidant system, can lead to oxidative stress, an emerging health risk factor involved in the aging and in a lot of diseases. The reactive oxygen metabolites (ROMs) are used as an index to determine the level of oxidative stress (oxidant capacity) by measuring the amount of organic hydroperoxide (ROOH) converted into radicals that oxidize N,N-diethyl-p-phenylenediamine [1, 2]. The present study was performed on wild boars (Sus scrofa) bred in the wild of two areas (C1and D1) of a 820 hectares wood belonging to Campania Region, included in the “Cilento e Vallo di Diano” National Park. The wood is made up of Quercus cerris and Castano sativa, mixed mesoxerofil conifer. Blood samples, from the jugular vein, were collected from 15 and 18 wild boars of the C1 and D1 areas respectively, during the routine sanitary control. On the serum, cortisol and ROMs (DIACRON, Grosseto, Italy) were evaluated. The results are shown in Table 1. Cortisol was higher in D1 than in C1 area, but there was not any significative difference; ROMs in D1 were significantly higher than C1 area, with P<0.05. Brambilla et al. [3] reported oxidative stress panel in swine and wild boar as welfare parameter. These preliminary data show that animals in D1 area are subject to greater oxidative stress than in C1 area. It would be interesting to follow these wild boars for longer periods and evaluate the markers of stress to ensure their well-being.