Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2023, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (11): 4766-4776.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2023.11.030

• BASIC VETERINARY MEDICINE • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Expression of GR and FKBP5 in Hippocampus and Hypothalamus of Arbor Acres and Rugao Yellow Broiler Chickens and Its Relationship with Stress Sensitivity

LIU Jie1,2, CONG Wei1,2, ZHAO Mindie1,2, ZHAO Ruqian1,2*   

  1. 1. College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China;
    2. Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology and Biochemistry, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Nanjing 210095, China
  • Received:2023-04-23 Online:2023-11-23 Published:2023-11-26

Abstract: This study was conducted to investigate whether the expression of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and FK-506 binding protein 5 (FKBP5) in hippocampus and hypothalamus of broiler chickens is related to stress sensitivity. Arbor Acres (AA) and Rugao yellow (Rugao) broiler chickens at 35 days of age were injected subcutaneously with corticosterone (CORT) for 10 consecutive days to establish a chronic stress model. The body weight, feed intake, behavior and plasma biochemical indexes of the two lines of chickens were detected, and the differences in stress sensitivity were compared. The expression of GR and FKBP5 in hippocampus and hypothalamus were detected by qPCR and Western blot, and their correlation with plasma CORT levels was analyzed. The results showed as follows: 1) After CORT treatment, the body weight of AA decreased significantly, the tonic immobility (TI) duration and plasma CORT level increased significantly, but there was no significant change in Rugao. CORT treatment resulted in increased heterophil/lymphocyte (H/L) ratio in blood of both AA and Rugao, yet H/L ratio was significantly higher in AA than in Rugao. 2) The basal level of GR protein expression in hippocampus and hypothalamus was significantly higher in Rugao than that in AA; The protein expression of GR was significantly down-regulated after CORT treatment, but Rugao still showed significantly higher GR protein than AA after stress. 3) CORT significantly up-regulated FKBP5 expression at both mRNA and protein levels in hippocampus and hypothalamus of AA, while the FKBP5 up-regulation in hippocampus and hypothalamus of Rugao only occurred at the protein level. FKBP5 protein expression was significantly in AA than in Rugao after stress. 4) Plasma CORT level was negatively correlated with GR protein expression in hippocampus and hypothalamus, and positively correlated with FKBP5 protein expression. GR was negatively correlated with FKBP5 protein expression in hippocampus and hypothalamus. These results indicate that AA and Rugao have different stress sensitivity, and the expression levels of GR and FKBP5 in hippocampus and hypothalamus are related to stress sensitivity.

Key words: broiler chicken, stress, hippocampus, hypothalamus, glucocorticoid receptor, FK-506 binding protein 5

CLC Number: