Endocrine Profiles and Blood Chemistry Patterns of Cloned Miniature Pigs in the Post-Puberty Period

Abstract

Although the majority of surviving pigs cloned by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) appear to be physiologicallynormal, there is a general lack of detailed hemato-physiologic studies for the period of early adulthood to substantiatethis claim. In the present study, we investigated variation in blood chemistry and endocrinological parameters betweenmesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from cloned and normal age-matched female and male miniature pigs. Clonedfemales and males showed normal ranges for complete blood count assessments. Biochemical assessments showed thatγ-GGT, ALT and cholesterol levels of male and female clones were significantly (P<0.05 or P<0.01, respectively)higher than that of age-matched control miniature pigs. Variations in insulin and IGF-1 were higher in female clonesthan in male clones and controls. Thus, although female and male cloned miniature pigs may be physiologically similarto normal animals, or at least within normal ranges, a greater degree of physiological and endocrinological variationwas found in cloned pigs. The above variation must be taken into account before considering cloned female or maleminiature pigs for various biomedical applications.