Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2023, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (5): 2001-2012.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2023.05.021

• ANIMAL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND REPRODUCTION • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The Expression Patterns of OPN5-TSH-DIO2/DIO3 and VIP-PRL in the Process of Repressing the Testicular Function of Male Shanma Duck under Short-day Photoperiod

SUN Junfeng1, PAN Jianqiu1, ZHANG Zhuoshen1, JIANG Danli1, SHENG Xu1, CHEN Rong2, XU Danning1, TIAN Yunbo1*, HUANG Yunmao1*   

  1. 1. College of Animal Science &Technology, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510225, China;
    2. Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
  • Received:2022-10-09 Online:2023-05-23 Published:2023-05-20

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore the expression and possible relationship of main related factors of OPN5-TSH-DIO2/DIO3 pathway and VIP-PRL pathway in the process of short light inhibiting on reproductive function of male Shanma duck. In this experiment, 80 healthy male Shanma ducks with similar body weight and normal breeding period (220 days old) were selected as subjects. The long light (18L:6D) of the normal breeding period was maintained 15 d before the experiment, from d16, the illumination was shortened by 2 h per day, and the illumination time was 8 h per day (8L:16D) until the end of the experiment (d45). Blood samples and tissue samples of hypothalamus, pituitary and testis were collected on d15, d21, d30 and d45, and testicular development and expression of related genes and proteins in hypothalamus, pituitary and testis were detected by HE staining, ELISA, qRT-PCR and Western blot techniques. The results showed that, compared with long light exposure, short light exposure resulted in testicular atrophy, a significant decrease in the number of spermatogenic cells and sperms(P<0.05), a significant decrease in blood LH, PRL and testosterone levels(P<0.05), a decrease in GnRH expression and an increase in GnIH expression in hypothalamus, but the difference was not significant(P>0.05). GnIHR showed an upward trend and FSH showed a downward trend in pituitary, but the difference was not significant(P>0.05). GnRHR increased significantly in the later stage of the experiment(P<0.05). The gene expression levels of LH in pituitary and FSHR, LHR in testis was decreased, but there was no significant difference(P>0.05). In OPN5-TSH-DIO2/DIO3 pathway, the expression gene levels of OPN5, DIO2, TSH-β and the expression protein levels of OPN5 was decreased significantly(P<0.05), the expression protein levels of DIO2 was decreased, but there was no significant difference(P>0.05). While the expression trend of DIO3 gene was opposite to that of DIO2. Shortening light exposure time led to the increase of gene(P>0.05) and protein(P<0.05) expression level of DIO3. In VIP-PRL pathway, the gene expression of VIP in hypothalamus and PRL in pituitary decreased significantly(P<0.05), while the gene expression of PRLR in pituitary increased significantly(P<0.05), and the gene expression of PRLR in testis decreased significantly(P<0.05). The results showed that both OPN5-TSH-DIO2/DIO3 pathway and VIP-PRL pathway were involved in the process of short light inhibiting on reproductive performance of male Shanma duck, which mediated the inhibitory effect of short light on reproductive axis. Compared with the light conditions needed in normal breeding period, short light could inhibiting the efficiency of two pathways and down-regulate the activity of reproductive axis, but the mutual regulation between the two pathways remains to be further studied.

Key words: Shanma duck, illumination, testis, OPN5, PRL

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