Badmus Kazeem Ajasa, Idrus Zulkifli, Meng Goh Yong, Sazili Awis Qurni, Mamat-Hamidi Kamalludin
Department of Animal Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Seri Kembangan 43400, Selangor, Malaysia.
Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Food Security, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Seri Kembangan 43400, Selangor, Malaysia.
Animals (Basel). 2021 Sep 22;11(10):2759. doi: 10.3390/ani11102759.
This study was designed to characterize telomere length and its regulatory genes and to evaluate their potential as well-being biomarkers. Chickens were fed a diet containing corticosterone (CORT) for 4 weeks and performances, organ weight, plasma CORT levels, telomere lengths and regulatory genes were measured and recorded. Body weights of CORT-fed chickens were significantly suppressed ( < 0.05), and organ weights and circulating CORT plasma levels ( < 0.05) were altered. Interaction effect of CORT and duration was significant ( < 0.05) on heart and liver telomere length. CORT significantly ( < 0.05) shortened the telomere length of the whole blood, muscle, liver and heart. The , and were significantly ( < 0.05) upregulated in the liver and heart at week 4 although these genes and were downregulated in the muscles at weeks 2 and 4. Therefore, telomere lengths and their regulators are associated and diverse, so they can be used as novel biomarkers of stress in broiler chickens fed with CORT.
本研究旨在表征端粒长度及其调控基因，并评估它们作为健康生物标志物的潜力。给鸡喂食含皮质酮（CORT）的日粮4周，测量并记录其生产性能、器官重量、血浆CORT水平、端粒长度和调控基因。喂食CORT的鸡体重显著受到抑制（<0.05），器官重量和循环血浆CORT水平发生改变（<0.05）。CORT与持续时间的交互作用对心脏和肝脏端粒长度有显著影响（<0.05）。CORT显著（<0.05）缩短了全血、肌肉、肝脏和心脏的端粒长度。在第4周时，肝脏和心脏中的 、 和 显著上调（<0.05），尽管这些基因以及 在第2周和第4周时在肌肉中表达下调。因此，端粒长度及其调节因子相互关联且具有多样性，因此它们可作为喂食CORT的肉鸡应激的新型生物标志物。
