Du Shan, Zhou Jianchuan, Ao Xiang, Zhu Yufei
Techlex Food Co., Ltd., Chengdu, China.
School of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, China.
Front Vet Sci. 2025 Jan 7;11:1505801. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1505801. eCollection 2024.
Maternal nutritional status plays a crucial role in embryonic development and has persistent effects on postnatal chicks. Vitamin C (VC) plays an important role in embryonic and postnatal development involved in nutri-epigenetics. The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding (IOF) of VC on embryonic development, egg hatching time, and chick rectal temperature. Trial 1 was conducted under normal incubation conditions without the IOF procedure and was designed to analyze the characteristics of embryonic development and establish the scoring standards for yolk absorption and the rupture of the shell membrane. The results showed that the relative weight of the embryo and residual yolk and the organ indexes were reliable indicators of embryonic development. Yolk absorption was scored 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4, with a higher score indicating more complete absorption. In addition, the rupture of the shell membrane was divided into two cases: YES and NO. Trial 2 included three groups, control (CON), normal saline (NS), and vitamin C (VC), and was designed to detect the effects of IOF of VC on the indicators in trial 1, as well as the plasma biochemical indicators. At embryonic age 11 (E11), each egg in the CON group was non-injected, each egg in the NS group was injected with 0.1 mL of sterile normal saline, and each egg in the VC group was injected with 0.1 mL of sterile normal saline containing 3 mg vitamin C. The whole day of E21 was evenly divided into three time periods: early (incubation hours 480-488), middle (incubation hours 488-496), and late (incubation hours 496-504). Among the CON, NS, and VC groups, the percentages of the early-hatched chicks (egg hatching time) were 29.31, 12.00, and 33.90%, respectively. The proportions of early and middle hatched chicks in these groups were 51.72, 42.00, and 38.27%, respectively. The rectal temperature of chicks was lower ( < 0.05) in the VC group than in the CON and NS groups. Compared to the NS group, the plasma biochemical indicators in the VC group showed significantly lower levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), GLB, total bilirubin (TBIL), TBA, uric acid (UA), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and corticosterone (CORT) ( < 0.05). Additionally, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) had an increasing trend ( = 0.059) in the VC group. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that VC accelerated the hatching process and reduced chicks' rectal temperature, which may be related to the improvement of liver function and changes in metabolism, as indicated by blood biochemical indicators.
母体营养状况在胚胎发育中起着至关重要的作用，并对出生后的雏鸡产生持续影响。维生素C（VC）在涉及营养表观遗传学的胚胎和出生后发育中发挥着重要作用。本研究旨在探讨VC腹腔注射（IOF）对胚胎发育、蛋孵化时间和雏鸡直肠温度的影响。试验1在没有IOF程序的正常孵化条件下进行，旨在分析胚胎发育特征，并建立卵黄吸收和壳膜破裂的评分标准。结果表明，胚胎、剩余卵黄的相对重量和器官指数是胚胎发育的可靠指标。卵黄吸收分为0、1、2、3和4分，分数越高表明吸收越完全。此外，壳膜破裂分为两种情况：是和否。试验2包括三组，即对照组（CON）、生理盐水（NS）组和维生素C（VC）组，旨在检测VC腹腔注射对试验1中的指标以及血浆生化指标的影响。在胚胎期11（E11）时，CON组的每个蛋不注射，NS组的每个蛋注射0.1 mL无菌生理盐水，VC组的每个蛋注射0.1 mL含3 mg维生素C的无菌生理盐水。E21全天平均分为三个时间段：早期（孵化小时480 - 488）、中期（孵化小时488 - 496）和晚期（孵化小时496 - 504）。在CON、NS和VC组中，早期出壳雏鸡（蛋孵化时间）的百分比分别为29.31%、12.00%和33.90%。这些组中早期和中期出壳雏鸡的比例分别为51.72%、42.00%和38.27%。VC组雏鸡的直肠温度低于CON组和NS组（P<0.05）。与NS组相比，VC组的血浆生化指标显示碱性磷酸酶（ALP）、总蛋白（TP）、白蛋白（ALB）、球蛋白（GLB）、总胆红素（TBIL）、总胆汁酸（TBA）、尿酸（UA）、高密度脂蛋白胆固醇（HDL-C）和皮质酮（CORT）的水平显著降低（P<0.05）。此外，VC组的谷丙转氨酶（ALT）有升高趋势（P = 0.059）。总之，我们的数据表明，VC加速了孵化过程并降低了雏鸡的直肠温度，这可能与血液生化指标所示的肝功能改善和代谢变化有关。
