Research Note: Metabolic changes and physiological responses of broilers in the final stage of growth exposed to different environmental temperatures

Abstract

There is no information regarding the influence of heat stress ( HS ) on host metabolic profile. In this study, we investigated the effects of different environmental temperatures on oxidative status, hormone levels, HS indicators, and plasma metabolites in broilers. A total of 1,680 yellow-feather broilers (28 D old) were randomly allotted to 4 groups with 6 replicates. The broilers (29–57 D old) were maintained in thermostatic rooms (20°C, 25°C, 28°C, and 30°C) for 28 consecutive days. The results showed that the plasma cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone levels and creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase activities gradually increased when the temperature increased from 20°C to 30°C. However, the insulin-like growth factor-І level decreased gradually. Furthermore, heat shock protein 70 expression significantly increased in the liver and breast muscle ( P < 0.01). As the temperature increased, the total anti-oxidant capacity in the plasma and liver gradually decreased, whereas the malondialdehyde level increased. The activity of plasma glutathione peroxidase and total superoxide dismutase in the liver showed a similar increasing trend ( P < 0.01). In addition, 15 metabolites were identified at higher ( P < 0.05) levels, whereas 2 metabolites were identified at lower ( P < 0.05) levels in the 30°C treatment group than those in the 25°C treatment group. Most of these potentially diagnostic biomarkers are involved in carbohydrate, amino acid, lipid, or gut microbiome-derived metabolism, indicating that HS affected the metabolic pathways in broilers. Six candidate metabolites (tartronic acid, l-bethreine, tartaric acid, allose, glutaric acid, and neohesperidin) were selected as biomarkers, as they showed high sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy in diagnosing broilers under HS ( P < 0.01). In conclusion, in the final stage of growth, we identified 6 plasma differential metabolites as potential biomarkers of HS-induced metabolic disorders in yellow-feathered broilers. This work offers new insights into the metabolic alterations of broilers exposed to HS and provides a new perspective for further study.

Effects of different stocking densities on tracheal barrier function and its metabolic changes in finishing broilers

“…Based on our previously described methods ( Wang et al., 2020 ), the derivatized samples were analyzed in an Agilent 7,890 GC System (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA) fitted with a Pegasus 4D TOFMS (LECO, St. Joseph, MI) and a 30 m × 250 μm i.d. DB-5MS capillary column.…”

“…The R 2 Y and Q 2 were applied to evaluate the model predictive ability and fitting level. The metabolites responsible for differentiating both groups were filtered under the following conditions: variable importance in the projection > 1, P ≤ 0.05 (threshold), and 95% Hotelling's T-squared ellipse ( Wang et al., 2020 ).…”

The Impact of Heavy Metals on the Chicken Gut Microbiota and Their Health and Diseases

“…There are fewer species of bacteria in chicken GIT than in the GIT of other animals, which may be due to the rapid transit and short retention times of food in the digestive system [5]. For example, a 29-day-old broiler chicken's typical retention time is between 4 and 5 hours, compared to humans' average of 20 hours [23]. Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria are said to be the most common phyla found in the ceca [24].…”

Effects of different stocking densities on the trachea barrier function and its plasma metabolic profile of finishing broilers

“…The supernatant (400 μL) was collected into a 1.5 mL tube, and then transferred to a glass vial and dried in a vacuum. Methoxyamine salt reagent (methoxyamine hydrochloride, dissolved in pyridine 20 mg/mL) was added and the mixture incubated in an oven at 80 o C for 30 min, then derivatized using N, O Bis (trimethylsilyl) tri uoroacetamide (BSTFA), incubated for 1 hour at GC-TOF/MS Analysis As our previously described methods [17], the derivatized samples were analyzed using an Agilent 7890 GC system equipped with a Pegasus 4D TOFMS (LECO, St. Joseph, MI) with a DB-5MS capillary column (30 m × 250 μm inner diameter, 0.25 μm lm thickness coated with 95% dimethyllpolysiloxane crosslinked with 5% diphenyl under the following conditions: initial temperature was kept at 80 o C for 12 seconds, increased to 180 o C at a rate of 10 o C /min, to 240 o C at a rate of 5 o C /min, and further to 290 o C C at a rate of 20 o C /min and maintained for 11 min. One μL of sample solution was injected with helium as the carrier gas at a ow rate of 1 mL/minute.…”

“…To evaluate the predictive ability and tting level of the model, the parameters R 2 Y and Q 2 were applied. The metabolites responsible for differentiating two groups were ltered with the following requirements: variable importance in the projection (VIP) >1 and P-values of 0.05 (threshold) with 95% Hotelling's T-squared ellipse [17].…”