Steroidome And Metabolome Analysis In Saliva From Immature To Pubertal Gilts To Identify Potential Biomarkers Of Receptivity To Boar Effect

Our objective was to develop alternatives to hormones for estrus synchronization in gilts. Gilts exhibit a pre-puberty period with high urinary estrone concentration during which boar exposure could induce the first ovulation. We searched for salivary biomarkers of this period. Urine and saliva were collected on six 140-day-old gilts until puberty for estrone assay, metabolome and steroidome analysis. We identified 23 metabolites and 28 steroids in saliva. The concentration of 8 of them showed significant variations at the pre-puberty period, they were candidate biomarkers. Saliva was collected from 30 gilts exposed to a boar and subjected to estrus detection from 150 to 175 days of age. Metabolome and steroidome analyses allowed the identification of 33 metabolites and 29 steroids in saliva. Their concentrations were not significantly different between receptive and non-receptive gilts. Thus, we could not identify salivary biomarkers of the period of receptivity to the boar effect.