title: Liver enzymes in White Leghorns selected for the sheep red blood cell immune response.
abstract: Liver enzymes are essential to xenobiotic metabolism. Expression of these enzymes is dependent upon factors such as age and sex. The objective of this study was to determine basal liver enzyme levels in male and female White Leghorn chickens to provide reference values for future studies. Chickens from 2 lines divergently selected for 35 generations for high antibody and low antibody immune response to SRBC were used. Six male and 6 female chickens from each line were killed at each of 4, 8, 12, and 20 wk of age. Livers were collected and used for enzyme analyses. Liver tissue was analyzed for quinone reductase, glutathione-S-transferase, and cytochrome P450 3A4 activity. All data were analyzed using ANOVA. There were no consistent differences in enzyme activity between high- and low-antibody lines at any age. Cytochrome P450 3A4 activity was substantially greater in 4- and 8-wk than in 12- and 20-wk-old chickens (P < 0.001). This study provides insights into enzyme activities of liver enzymes; however, except for cytochrome P450 3A4, no clear trends across ages were observed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Blevins
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Siegel
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Blodgett
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ehrich
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Lewis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000276:immunology; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D011808:Quinone Reductases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012756:Sheep
chemical_list: D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System; D011808:Quinone Reductases; D005982:Glutathione Transferase