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. 2022 Oct;101(10):102085.
doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2022.102085. Epub 2022 Aug 1.

Heat stress in broilers of liver injury effects of heat stress on oxidative stress and autophagy in liver of broilers

Lu-Ping Tang  1 , Yi-Lei Liu  1 , Jia-Xin Zhang  1 , Kang-Ning Ding  1 , Meng-Han Lu  1 , Yong-Ming He  2
Affiliations

Heat stress in broilers of liver injury effects of heat stress on oxidative stress and autophagy in liver of broilers

Lu-Ping Tang et al. Poult Sci. 2022 Oct.

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of chronic heat stress on oxidative stress in liver of broilers. In our study, chickens were randomly allocated to control 1 group (control 7 d), heat stress 1 group (HS1, 7 d), control 2 group (control 14 d) and heat stress 2 group (HS2, 14 d), with 30 replicates in each group. Broilers in heat stress groups exposed 8 h/day heat stress (35 ± 2°C) for 7 or 14 consecutive days, and the rest of time per day were kept at 23 ± 2℃ the same as control group broilers. Growth performance and the liver tissues were collected for histological observation and detection of organ index and liver redox status. The serum indicators (alanine aminotransferase [ALT] and aspartate aminotransferase [AST]) related to liver injury were determined. Moreover, Nrf2-related genes and protein expression levels in liver were measured. The results showed that in heat stress group broilers the body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, liver weight, and liver index were decreased, inflammatory cells infiltration in liver, and serum AST level was enhanced, compared with control group broilers. Moreover, the hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) level were increased after 1 wk of heat stress. Nrf2, Sqstm1/p62, HO-1, and NQO1 mRNA expressions in the liver of broilers were decreased by heat stress. P62 and p-p62 protein expressions were significantly up-regulated, but Nrf2 and keap1 protein level was decreased in heat stress group broilers as compared to control group. The mRNA expression levels of Beclin1, LC3-I, LC3-II were down-regulated significantly with heat stress for 1 wk. The mRNA expression level of mTOR up-regulated after 2 wk of heat stress. In conclusion, heat stress induced liver injury of broilers by down-regulating Nrf2-keap1 signaling pathway and autophagy.

Keywords: Nrf2; broilers; heat stress; liver; oxidative stress.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effects of heat stress on growth performance of broilers. (A) The weight gain, (B) feed intake and (C) feed conversion ratio (FCR) in broilers. *P < 0.05 vs. control 1; #P < 0.05 vs. control 2 (n = 30).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effects of heat stress on liver index and histological changes of broilers. (A) Liver necropsy and (B) histological changes. Yellow arrow represents necrosis points. Yellow triangle represents inflammatory infiltration.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effects of heat stress on hepatic redox related genes expressions in liver of broilers. (A) Nrf2, (B) HO-1 and (C) Nqo1 genes expressions in liver of broilers were measured by qRT-PCR. (D) Nrf2 protein expression in liver of broilers was measured by immunofluorescence histochemistry. *P < 0.05 vs. control 1; #P < 0.05 vs. control 2.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effects of heat stress on liver p62 expression of broilers. Proteins expressions in liver of broilers were measured by western blotting. *P < 0.05 vs. control 1; #P < 0.05 vs. control 2.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effects of heat stress on hepatic autophagy related genes levels in broilers. Gene expressions in liver of broilers were measured by RT-PCR. *P < 0.05 vs. control 1; #P < 0.05 vs. control 2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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