title: Pathway underlying small intestine apoptosis by dietary nickel chloride in broiler chickens.
abstract: The aims of this study were to investigate the pathways which dietary nickel chloride (NiCl2) affects small intestine apoptosis in broiler chickens by observing the ultrastructure, and bcl-2, bax, and caspase-3 protein expression and mRNA expression, and cytochrome C, bak and caspase-9 mRNA expression of the small intestine. A total of 240 one-day-old avian broilers were divided into four groups and fed a corn-soybean basal diet as the control diet or three experimental diets supplemented with 300, 600, and 900 mg/kg of NiCl2 for 42 days. Ultrastructurally, the microvilli were apparently exfoliated, and the mitochondria were swollen and the number of lysosomes increased in the intestinal cells of three experimental groups. As measured by TUNEL and flow cytometry (FCM), the percentage of apoptotic cells in the small intestine and the lymphocytes in the ileum were significantly increased in three experimental groups when compared with those of the control group. Meanwhile, immunohistochemistry, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA) tests showed that the protein expression, mRNA expression levels were decreased in the bcl-2, whereas those of bax and caspase-3, and the cytochrome C, bak and caspase-9 mRNA expression levels were increased in three experimental groups. The abovementioned results show that pathway of dietary NiCl2-induced small intestine apoptosis is related to the mitochondrial damage and promotion of the cytochrome C release from mitochondria, which activates the mitochondrion-mediated apoptosis pathway.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Diseases and Environmental Hazards of Sichuan Province, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Bangyuan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Diseases and Environmental Hazards of Sichuan Province, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Hongrui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Diseases and Environmental Hazards of Sichuan Province, Sichuan, China; College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya'an, 625014, China. Electronic address: cuihengmin2008@sina.com.
authors.forename: Hengmin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Diseases and Environmental Hazards of Sichuan Province, Sichuan, China; College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya'an, 625014, China.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Diseases and Environmental Hazards of Sichuan Province, Sichuan, China; College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya'an, 625014, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Diseases and Environmental Hazards of Sichuan Province, Sichuan, China; College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya'an, 625014, China.
authors.forename: Zhicai
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zuo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Diseases and Environmental Hazards of Sichuan Province, Sichuan, China; College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya'an, 625014, China.
authors.forename: Junliang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Diseases and Environmental Hazards of Sichuan Province, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Xun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Diseases and Environmental Hazards of Sichuan Province, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Jianying
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D020169:Caspases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000633:toxicity; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009532:Nickel / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000633:toxicity; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: C022838:nickel chloride; D009532:Nickel; D020169:Caspases
keywords: Apoptosis; Broiler chicken; Mitochondria/caspase; Nickel chloride; Small intestine