ACTA VETERINARIA ET ZOOTECHNICA SINICA ›› 2019, Vol. 50 ›› Issue (8): 1625-1634.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2019.08.011

• ANIMAL NUTRITION AND FEEDS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of Acute Cold Stress on Immune Function and Expression of Heat Shock Protein 70 Family Genes in Different Tissues in Sheep

PENG Xiaokun, ZHANG Yu, HUANG Xiaoyu, ZHOU Guangchen, XING Xiaonan, ZHANG Enping*   

  1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A & F University, Yangling 712100, China
  • Received:2018-12-19 Online:2019-08-23 Published:2019-08-23

Abstract: This experiment was conducted to explore the effect of acute cold stress on immune function and expression of HSP70 family genes in different tissues in sheep. Eight (12±0.5)-month-old healthy female sheep (F1 of Small Tail Han sheep×Hu sheep) were selected and raised separately in cage in heat-preserved sheep house (wind chill temperature:(-7.14±2.53)℃). The adaptation period lasted for 7 d. At the 8th day, female sheep were treated with acute cold stress for 12 h in outdoor (wind chill temperature:(-27.40±3.12)℃), and then blood and tissue samples were collected before and after cold stress. Serum immune indexes (cytokine and immunoglobulin G content), the expression of HSP70 family genes (HSPA1A, HSPA6 and HSPA8) and heat shock transcription factor 1 (HSF1) in different tissues (liver, kidney, spleen, heart, longissimus dorsi muscle and duodenum) were measured by ELISA and RT-PCR method, respectively. The results showed as the follows:1) Compared with before acute cold stress, the serum levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-2 and IL-6 increased significantly after acute cold stress(P<0.05), while the serum levels of IL-4 and IgG decreased significantly (P<0.05). 2) The mRNA expression of HSPA1A increased significantly in liver, kidney, heart and longissimus dorsi muscle after acute cold stress(P<0.05). HSPA6 expression level increased significantly in the longissimus dorsi muscle and heart (P<0.05). HSPA8 expression level increased significantly in longissimus dorsi muscle(P<0.05), and decreased significantly in spleen and duodenum(P<0.05). HSF1 expression level increased significantly in liver, heart and longissimus dorsi muscle (P<0.05), and decreased significantly in spleen and duodenum(P<0.05). In this experiment, acute cold stress could inhibit the immune function, and the expression levels of HSP70 family genes (HSPA1A, HSPA6 and HSPA8) were different in different tissues. The HSPA1A was more sensitive to temperature and could be suitable to as a biomarker for cold stress. The increased expression of HSP70 family genes in liver, heart and longissimus dorsi muscle might be related to keeping the normal heat production for tissue cells.

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