Strategies and Mechanisms of Thermal Compensation in Newborn Water Buffaloes

MOTA-ROJAS, DANIEL; BRAGHIERI ADA; GHEZZI, MARCELO DANIEL; CERIANI MARIA CAROLINA; LENDEZ PAMELA ANAHI; SABIA EMILIO; NAPOLITANO FABIO

Animals

Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute

Lugar: Basel; Año: 2023 vol. 13 p. 1 - 31

2076-2615

Hypothermia is one of the principal causes of perinatal mortality in water buffaloes and canrange from 3% to 17.9%. In ruminants, factors affecting hypothermia in newborns may be of intrinsic(e.g., level of neurodevelopment, birth weight, vitality score, amount of brown fat, skin features)or extrinsic origin (e.g., maternal care, environmental conditions, colostrum consumption). Whennewborn buffaloes are exposed to cold stress, thermoregulatory mechanisms such as peripheral vasoconstriction and shivering and non-shivering thermogenesis are activated to prevent hypothermia.Due to the properties of infrared thermography (IRT), as a technique that detects vasomotor changestriggered by a reduction in body temperature, evaluating the central and peripheral regions in newborn buffaloes is possible. This review aims to analyze behavioral, physiological, and morphologicalstrategies and colostrum consumption as thermal compensation mechanisms in newborn waterbuffalo to cope with environmental changes affecting thermoneutrality. In addition, the importanceof monitoring by IRT to identify hypothermia states will be highlighted. Going deeper into thesetopics related to the water buffalo is essential because, in recent years, this species has become morepopular and is being bred in more geographic areas.