Davis, C., Brown, J., Matthews, L. et al. 2023. Comparison of agents to maintain hydration of Yucatan minipig skin. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 11(4) (July/August), 50-52.

Itchy, dry skin…on pigs? Yes! Yucatan minipigs are commonly used in biomedical research and are prone to dry skin (xerosis) accompanied by itchy skin (pruritus). At our institution, minipigs were oiled twice weekly with lanolin to mitigate this condition, however, this resulted in excessive debris along the dorsum sometimes accompanied by exfoliative lesions. We sought an alternative to lanolin that would help our pigs feel comfortable in their own skin! In this study, we evaluated the ability of glycerol and coconut oil to hydrate skin appropriately in comparison with lanolin or no treatment. No clinical significant difference was observed between body locations. Results from visual and tactile scoring 24 and 48 hours after each application when all locations were combined showed that the ideal skin condition was achieved in the following order: glycerol (83.3% visual, 75% tactile), coconut oil (79.2%, 64.6%), control (33.3%, 39.6%), followed by lanolin (29.2%, 12.5%). The overall trend was that glycerol was the ideal agent. Our institution switched to glycerol after this study was completed and over one year out, we are still very happy with our Yucatan’s skin!