{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,16]],"date-time":"2026-10-16T15:56:16Z","timestamp":1792166176350,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":61,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,9]],"date-time":"2020-12-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1607472000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100005242","name":"Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100005242","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Vet. Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Tail-biting (TB) in pigs is a serious behavioral disorder. It is an important challenge in swine production as it impacts animal welfare and health and the economics and safety of the pork meat supply chain. To prevent TB, approaches including enrichment material and tail docking are proposed but none are optimal. Nutrition appears to be an important factor in TB behavior, perhaps by modulating the intestinal microbiota (IM). Our aim was to assess the association between TB behavior and IM in pigs through comparisons of IM in groups of biter, bitten and non-biter\/non-bitten pigs. Each group composed of 12 pigs was formed at the beginning of the growing\/finishing phase based on a target behavior analysis centered on TB behavior for the biter group and a score of damages caused to the tail for the bitten group. Blood and fecal samples were collected from each pig during a TB episode, at time 0, t0, and when the TB episode was considered finished, 4 weeks later, at time 1, t1. Serum cortisol level was determined by ELISA and used as an indicator of stress. The pig's fecal microbiota was analyzed from DNA extracted from freshly collected fecal matter using amplicon sequencing of the V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene. Serum cortisol levels were significantly higher in either the biter or bitten pig groups compared to the negative control group (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.02 and <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.01, respectively). The microbiota alpha-diversity was not significantly different between all groups, biter, bitten and negative control. Analyses of beta-diversity, however, revealed a significant difference between either the biter or the bitten group in comparison to the non-biter\/non-bitten negative control group in terms of structure and composition of the microbiota. <jats:italic>Lactobacillus<\/jats:italic> were significantly more abundant in the negative control group compared to the two other groups (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.001). No significant difference was revealed between the biter and bitten groups. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) confirmed that lactobacilli were more abundant in the negative control group. Our study indicates that TB behavior is associated with the IM composition in pigs.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fvets.2020.563762","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,9]],"date-time":"2020-12-09T07:12:50Z","timestamp":1607497970000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":30,"title":["Association Between Tail-Biting and Intestinal Microbiota Composition in Pigs"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Nassima","family":"Rabhi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alexandre","family":"Thibodeau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jean-Charles","family":"C\u00f4t\u00e9","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nicolas","family":"Devillers","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Benoit","family":"Laplante","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Philippe","family":"Fravalo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Guillaume","family":"Larivi\u00e8re-Gauthier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"William P.","family":"Th\u00e9riault","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Luigi","family":"Faucitano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Guy","family":"Beauchamp","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sylvain","family":"Quessy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"137","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tvjl.2009.08.028","article-title":"Tail-biting: a new perspective","volume":"186","author":"Taylor","year":"2010","journal-title":"Vet J"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"73","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jcpa.2011.11.112","article-title":"Systemic spread of infection in tail-bitten pigs","volume":"146","author":"Sihvo","year":"2012","journal-title":"J Comp Pathol."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"331","DOI":"10.7120\/09627286.22.3.331","article-title":"Stress measures in tail biters and bitten pigs in a matched case-control study","volume":"22","author":"Munsterhjelm","year":"2013","journal-title":"Anim Welfare"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4827","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-017-05404-y","article-title":"Characterization of short- and long-term mechanical sensitisation following surgical tail amputation in pigs","volume":"7","author":"Di Giminiani","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sci Rep"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"220","DOI":"10.1016\/j.livsci.2011.09.019","article-title":"Tail biting and production performance in fattening pigs","volume":"143","author":"Sinisalo","year":"2012","journal-title":"Livestock Sci"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2","DOI":"10.1186\/2055-5660-1-2","article-title":"Save the pig tail","volume":"1","author":"Valros","year":"2015","journal-title":"Porcine Health Manage"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"611","DOI":"10.2903\/j.efsa.2007.611","article-title":"The risks associated with tail biting in pigs and possible means to reduce the need for tail docking considering the different housing and husbandry systems\u2014Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Animal Health and Welfare","volume":"5","year":"2007","journal-title":"EFSA J"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"621","DOI":"10.1136\/vr.100986","article-title":"Evaluating the prevalence of tail biting and carcase condemnations in slaughter pigs in the Republic and Northern Ireland, and the potential of abattoir meat inspection as a welfare surveillance tool","volume":"171","author":"Harley","year":"2012","journal-title":"Vet Rec"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"275","DOI":"10.7120\/09627286.23.3.275","article-title":"Docking the value of pigmeat? 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