title: Avermectin induced autophagy in pigeon spleen tissues.
abstract: The level of autophagy is considered as an indicator for monitoring the toxic impact of pesticide exposure. Avermectin (AVM), a widely used insecticide, has immunotoxic effects on the pigeon spleen. The aim of this study was to investigate the status of autophagy and the expression levels of microtubule-associated protein1 light chain 3 (LC3), beclin-1, dynein, autophagy associated gene (Atg) 4B, Atg5, target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1) and target of rapamycin complex 2 (TORC2) in AVM-treated pigeon spleens. Eighty two-month-old pigeons were randomly divided into four groups: a control group, a low-dose group, a medium-dose group and a high-dose group, which were fed a basal diet spiked with 0, 20, 40 and 60 mg AVM/kg diet, respectively. Microscopic cellular morphology revealed a significant increase in autophagic structures in the AVM-treated groups. The expression of LC3, beclin-1, dynein, Atg4B and Atg5 increased, while mRNA levels of TORC1 and TORC2 were decreased in the AVM-treated groups relative to the control groups at 30, 60 and 90 days in the pigeon spleen. These results indicated that AVM exposure could up-regulate the level of autophagy in a dose-time-dependent manner in the pigeon spleen.
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, PR China.
authors.forename: Ci
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, PR China.
authors.forename: Yanbing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, 150086, PR China.
authors.forename: Lijie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, PR China.
authors.forename: Ziwei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, PR China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, PR 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* / Q000235:genetics; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D010856:Columbidae; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D007559:Ivermectin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000633:toxicity; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D007559:Ivermectin; C019264:avermectin
keywords: Autophagy; Avermectin; Pigeon; Spleen