Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2021, Vol. 52 ›› Issue (9): 2429-2438.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2021.09.006

• ANIMAL GENETICS AND BREEDING • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Fatty Acid Composition and Gene Expression of AMPK Signaling Pathway in Liver of Muscovy Duck at Different Egg-laying Stages

ZHU Wenjun1, CHEN Xingyong1,2*, LIU Le1, LIU Zhengquan1, ZHAO Yutong1, GENG Zhaoyu1,2   

  1. 1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China;
    2. Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Local Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resource Conservation and Bio-breeding, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
  • Received:2021-01-22 Online:2021-09-23 Published:2021-09-26

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the gene expression in AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathway and fatty acid composition in the liver of Muscovy duck at different egg-laying stages, so as to illustrate the mechanism of lipid metabolism in response to egg-laying. Fifteen female Muscovy ducks were selected at pre-laying (22 weeks), early laying (30 weeks), laying (40 weeks) and post-laying (60 weeks) stages, respectively. Serum lipid levels were determined by automatic biochemical analyzer. Liver histological structure was observed by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and Oil Red O staining, gene expression in AMPK pathway was determined by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), and fatty acid composition was measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results showed that the levels of total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglyceride (TG) and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) were significantly higher at 40 weeks than those at 22, 30 and 60 weeks (P<0.05). The levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) at 30 and 40 weeks were significantly lower than those at 22 and 60 weeks (P<0.05). Liver sections stained by HE and Oil Red O showed that the reticular formation was intact at 22 weeks, and lipid deposition significantly increased at 40 and 60 weeks (P<0.05). AMPKα1 was in a low expression level at 22, 30, 40 and 60 weeks, and was significantly lower than the expression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 (CPT1) and fatty acid synthase (FAS) at different egg-laying stages(P<0.05). FAS expressed in a significantly high level at 22, 40 and 60 weeks (P<0.05). The expression levels of hydroxy-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR), hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α (HNF4α), acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 (ACC1) and sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP1c) at 40 weeks were significantly higher than those at 22 and 30 weeks (P<0.05). Liver saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were mainly composed of C16:0, C18:0, C18:1 and C20:2 n-6, accounted for 32%, 16%, 30% and 9% of the total fatty acids, respectively. The contents of C14:0 and C16:0 at 40 weeks were significantly higher than those at 22 weeks(P<0.05). The contents of C24:0, C20:2 n-6 and ΣPUFA at 60 weeks were significantly higher than those at 22 and 40 weeks (P<0.05). In conclusion, the liver synthesized large amount of long-chain fatty acids by up-regulating the expression of lipid synthesis genes, including FAS,during egg-laying. The synthesized lipids were deposited in liver and transported into serum thus increased the serum lipid level during laying.

Key words: Muscovy duck, serum lipid, liver, AMPK signaling pathway, fatty acid

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