Effects of F-strain Mycoplasma gallisepticum inoculation on serum very low density lipoprotein diameter and fractionation of cholesterol among lipoproteins in commercial egg-laying hens

Abstract

Experimental inoculation with the F-strain of Mycoplasma gallisepticum (FMG) at 12 wk of age has been shown to affect the performance, liver, reproductive organs, and yolk lipid characteristics of commercial layers. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the serum lipoprotein characteristics of commercial egg-laying hens at 16 wk of age and throughout lay after inoculation with FMG at 12 wk of age. Mean diameters of very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) were determined for the 10th, 50th, and 90th percentiles of serum total VLDL of each hen. Percentages of total serum cholesterol recovered in VLDL and low and high density lipoprotein particle classes were also determined. Inoculation of birds with FMG at 12 wk did not change the physical properties or relative concentrations of their circulating lipoproteins. However, the age of the bird had significant differential effects on all the parameters examined. These data demonstrate that FMG-inoculation at 12 wk of age does not affect the lipoproteins of laying hens, but because these birds were housed in biological isolation units, these results do not preclude the possibility that these yolk precursors may be affected in FMG-infected birds that are housed in facilities in which there are increased levels of environmental stress. These data further suggest that alterations in liver, reproductive organs, and yolk lipid characteristics in response to FMG, as noted in previous reports on commercial layers, are not mediated through changes in circulating VLDL diameters.