Benefits of cortisol against weaning stress

US researchers are working to reduce the effects of stressors on weaning pigs by exploring how the anti-inflammatory drug cortisol and its agonists can regulate a pig’s immune system, allowing it to grow normally. Weaning is the most stressful period in a pig’s life, which results in a post-weaning growth lag. During this period, piglets are exposed to social, environmental, and nutritional stresses. These stressors elicit an exaggerated immune response in the piglets. Although a certain deg