title: The effect of early prenatal hypercapnia on the vascular network in the chorioallantoic membrane of the chicken embryo.
abstract: Over the last decade, the poultry sector has sought to develop novel ways to monitor chicken embryonic growth, health, and quality to control and optimize egg incubation conditions, particularly the concentration of dissolved gases (O(2), CO(2)). One of the parameters, which may change under different gas concentrations, is the angiogenesis in the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM), the organ for gas exchange of the chicken embryo. In this study, a newly developed methodology was used to quantify the angiogenesis in the CAM under normal and early hypercapnic conditions (i.e., increased CO(2) concentrations). Two experiments were conducted in which the same CO(2) profile was applied. The development of the vascular system was monitored from embryonic day (ED) 10 until ED 14 in Experiment 1, and until ED 16 in Experiment 2. This development was characterized by two different parameters-the vascular fraction (VF) as a measure for the density of the vascular network and the fractal dimension (FD) as a measure for the degree of branching of the vascular network. Moreover, in Experiment 2, embryo weights were compared between both groups. The proposed methodology showed that differences in the development of the vascular system could be observed across groups but also as function of the ED. Both VF and FD and the embryo weights were shown to be higher in the hypercapnia group compared to the control group.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Department of Biosystems, Division of MeBioS, K.U. Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30 - bus 2456, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium. eva.verhoelst@gmail.com
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Verhoelst
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: De Ketelaere
authors.forename: Eddy
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Decuypere
authors.forename: Josse
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: De Baerdemaeker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001835:Body Weight; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000494:pharmacology; D002642:Chick Embryo; D049033:Chorioallantoic Membrane / Q000098:blood supply*; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D006935:Hypercapnia / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide