title: Expression of endothelin-1 and its receptors in the lungs of broiler chickens exposed to high-altitude hypoxia.
abstract: To investigate the influence of exposure to high-altitude (HA) hypoxia on the expressions of endothelin-1 (ET-1), endothelin type A (ETA) and endothelin type B (ETB) receptors in broiler chickens, immunohistochemistry studies were performed in the lungs. Six hundred 1-day-old male broiler chickens were randomly divided into two groups: group A, birds maintained under rich oxygen conditions (oxygen content 21%); and group B, birds exposed to HA hypoxia (oxygen content 13%). Our data showed that exposure to altitude elevated ET-1 and ETA gene expressions at 21 and 28 days of age when compared with the rich oxygen group. Meanwhile, a marked decline in ETB expression was observed at 28 days of age in the course of HA, although there were no significant changes (P>0.05) at 7, 14 and 21 days of age. The increased response was accompanied by adverse effects on weekly body weight gain and ascites mortality. These observations suggested that ET-1, ETA and ETB genes are normally expressed in the lungs of birds. Increased levels of ET-1 and ETA and decreased ETB gene expression in the lungs are probably involved in the lung dysfunction of broiler chickens with developmental ascites.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine , Huazhong Agricultural University , Wuhan , People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jianfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Liru
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shahzad
authors.forename: Ding
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Guoquan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Jiakui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000531:Altitude; D000818:Animals; D001201:Ascites / Q000401:mortality; D002645:Chickens / Q000378:metabolism*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D019332:Endothelin-1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008168:Lung / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011897:Random Allocation; D017466:Receptors, Endothelin / Q000378:metabolism*; D015854:Up-Regulation; D015430:Weight Gain
chemical_list: D019332:Endothelin-1; D017466:Receptors, Endothelin; D010100:Oxygen