title: Autophagy is upregulated in brain tissues of pigeons exposed to avermectin.
abstract: Avermectin (AVM) is used in agriculture and veterinary medicine for the prevention of parasitic diseases; AVM is the active component of some insecticidal and nematicidal products. Residues of AVM drugs or their metabolites in livestock feces have toxic effects on non-target aquatic and terrestrial organisms. In this study, changes in the levels of autophagy related genes and ultrastructure in pigeon brain tissues after subchronic exposure to AVM for 30, 60 and 90 d were investigated. The decrease in the mRNA levels of TORC1 and TORC2 and increase in the mRNA levels of LC3, Beclin 1, Dynein, ATG5 and ATG4B and the increase in the protein levels of LC3, Beclin 1 and Dynein in a dose- and time-dependent manner in the pigeon brain were observed. The number of autophagic vacuoles in the cerebrum, cerebellum and optic lobe increased significantly with the concentration of AVM and the exposure time. We found that the changes in the levels of autophagy related genes and the ultrastructure in the cerebrum were more obvious than in the cerebellum and the optic lobe. The results suggest that AVM could induce autophagy in pigeon brain tissues. The information presented in this study is helpful for understanding the mechanism of AVM-induced autophagy in birds.
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, P.R. China; School of Life Science, Daqing Normal College, Daqing 163712, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Fuqing
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ci
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ziwei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shiwen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, P.R. China. Electronic address: lishu@neau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001343:Autophagy / Q000187:drug effects*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010856:Columbidae; D004398:Dyneins / Q000378:metabolism; D007306:Insecticides / Q000633:toxicity*; D007559:Ivermectin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000633:toxicity; D000076222:Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1; D000076225:Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 2; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D011897:Random Allocation; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D007306:Insecticides; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D007559:Ivermectin; C019264:avermectin; D000076222:Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1; D000076225:Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 2; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases; D004398:Dyneins
keywords: Avermectin; autophagy; brain tissue; pigeon