title: Chronobiological studies of chicken IgY: monitoring of infradian, circadian and ultradian rhythms of IgY in blood and yolk of chickens.
abstract: IgY is the functional equivalent of mammalian IgG found in birds, reptiles and amphibians. Many of its biological aspects have been explored with different approaches. In order to evaluate the rhythmicity of serum and yolk IgY, four chickens were examined and reared under the same conditions. To monitor biological oscillations of IgY in yolk and serum, the eggs and blood samples were collected over a 60 day period and the rhythm of yolk and serum IgY was determined by direct-ELISA. Results indicated that, there is a significant circaseptan rhythm in yolk IgY and circaquattran rhythm in serum IgY. The serum IgY concentration reached a peak in the morning, decreased to a minimum during the daytime and increased again at night revealing a significant circadian rhythm was superimposed by an ultradian rhythm. These data are suited to address the controversies concerning the IgY concentration in egg yolk and blood of laying hens. In addition, this study raised new questions, if the different rhythms in yolk and serum are concerned.
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
authors.forename: Jin-Xin
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
authors.forename: Diraviyam
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thirumalai
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China; Institute of Pharmacology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Rüdiger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schade
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China. Electronic address: zhang.xy@nwsuaf.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiao-Ying
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000204:Activity Cycles; D000818:Animals; D030161:Avian Proteins / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002642:Chick Embryo; D002645:Chickens / Q000276:immunology*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D004527:Egg Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D007116:Immunization, Passive; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism*; D010507:Periodicity
chemical_list: D030161:Avian Proteins; D004527:Egg Proteins; C016512:IgY; D007136:Immunoglobulins
keywords: Chicken; Circadian rhythm; Serum IgY; Yolk IgY