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. 2016 Jan 5;7(1):125-39.
doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.6591.

Toxic effect of NiCl2 on development of the bursa of Fabricius in broiler chickens

Shuang Yin  1 , Hengmin Cui  1   2 , Xi Peng  1   2 , Jing Fang  1   2 , Zhicai Zuo  1   2 , Junliang Deng  1   2 , Xun Wang  1   2 , Bangyuan Wu  1 , Hongrui Guo  1
Affiliations

Toxic effect of NiCl2 on development of the bursa of Fabricius in broiler chickens

Shuang Yin et al. Oncotarget. .

Abstract

This study was conducted with objective of evaluating the toxic effects of nickel chloride (NiCl2) on development of bursa of Fabricius in broilers fed on diets supplemented with 0, 300, 600 and 900 mg/kg of NiCl2 for 42 days by using the methods of experimental pathology, flow cytometry (FCM), and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The results showed that dietary NiCl2 in 300 mg/kg and over induced toxic suppression in the bursal development, which was characterized by decreasing lymphocytes histopathologically and relative weight, increasing G0/G1 phase (a prolonged nondividing state), reducing S phase (DNA replication) and proliferating index, and increasing percentages of apoptotic cells. Concurrently, the mRNA expression levels of bax, cytochrome c (cyt c), apoptotic peptidase activating factor 1 (Apaf-1), caspase-3, caspase-6, caspase-7 and caspase-9 were increased and the bcl-2 mRNA expression levels were decreased. The toxic suppression of bursal development finally impaired humoral immunity duo to the reduction of B lymphocyte population and B lymphocyte activity in the broiler chicken. This study provides new evidences for further studying the effect mechanism of Ni and Ni compoundson B-cell or bursa of Fabricius.

Keywords: Immune response; Immunity; Immunology and Microbiology Section; NiCl2; apoptosis; cell cycle; lesion; relative weight.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Histopathological changes in the bursa of Fabricius at 14 days of age
a. Control group. Lymphocytes are slightly reduced in lymphoid follicles of the 600 c. and 900 d. mg/kg groups when compared with those in the control group. H•E ×200.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Histopathological changes in the bursa of Fabricius at 28 days of age
a. Control group. Lymphocytes are reduced in lymphoid follicles of the 300mg/kg group b. and are obviously decreased in lymphoid follicles of the 600 c. and 900 d. mg/kg groups when compared with those in the control group. H•E ×200.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Histopathological changes in the bursa of Fabricius at 42 days of age
a. Control group. Lymphocytes are obviously reduced in lymphoid follicles of the 300mg/kg group b. and are significantly decreased in lymphoid follicles of the 600 c. and 900 d. mg/kg groups when compared with those in the control group. H•E ×200.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Histopathological changes in the bursa of Fabricius at 14 days of age
a. Control group. Lymphocytes are slightly reduced in lymphoid follicles of the 600 c. and 900 d. mg/kg groups when compared with those in the control group. H•E ×400.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Histopathological changes in the bursa of Fabricius at 28 days of age
a. Control group. Lymphocytes are reduced in lymphoid follicles of the 300mg/kg group b. and are obviously decreased in lymphoid follicles of the 600 c. and 900 d. mg/kg groups when compared with those in the control group. H•E ×400.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Histopathological changes in the bursa of Fabricius at 42 days of age
a. Control group. Lymphocytes are obviously reduced in lymphoid follicles of the 300mg/kg group b. and are significantly decreased in lymphoid follicles of the 600 c. and 900 d. mg/kg groups when compared with those in the control group. H•E ×400.
Figure 7
Figure 7. Changes of relative weight [bursa (g)/body weight (kg)] in the bursa of Fabricius
Data are the means ± standard deviation (n=5) *p < 0.05, compared with the control group **p < 0.01, compared with the control group.
Figure 8
Figure 8. Changes of cell cycle in the bursa of Fabricius by FCM at 42 days of age
Figure 9
Figure 9. Changes of the percentages of G0/G1 phase in the bursa of Fabricius
Data are the means ± standard deviation (n=5) *p < 0.05, compared with the control group **p < 0.01, compared with the control group.
Figure 10
Figure 10. Changes of the percentages of G2+M phase in the bursa of Fabricius
Data are the means ± standard deviation (n=5) *p < 0.05, compared with the control group **p < 0.01, compared with the control group.
Figure 11
Figure 11. Changes of the percentages of S phase in the bursa of Fabricius
Data are the means ± standard deviation (n=5) *p < 0.05, compared with the control group **p < 0.01, compared with the control group.
Figure 12
Figure 12. Changes of proliferating index (PI) of bursa of Fabricius
PI = [S + (G2 + M)]/[(G0/G1) +S + (G2 + M)] Data are the means ± standard deviation (n=5) *p < 0.05, compared with the control group **p < 0.01, compared with the control group.
Figure 13
Figure 13. Changes of the apoptosis in the bursa of Fabricius by FCM at 42 days of age
Figure 14
Figure 14. Changes of the percentages of apoptotic cells in the bursa of Fabricius by FCM
Data are the means ± standard deviation (n=5) *p < 0.05, compared with the control group **p < 0.01, compared with the control group.
Figure 15
Figure 15. Changes of mRNA expression levels of mitochondrial apoptotic pathway-related factors in the bursa of Fabricius
Data are the means ± standard deviation (n=5) *p < 0.05, compared with the control group **p < 0.01, compared with the control group.
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