Embryonic Thermal Manipulation Affects the Antioxidant Response to Post-Hatch Thermal Exposure in Broiler Chickens

摘要

The broiler chicken is one of the most important livestock species in the world, as it occupies a major role in the modern human diet. Due to uneven artificial selection pressures, the broiler has increased in size over the past few decades at the expense of its ability to withstand oxidative damage, the latter of which is often a byproduct of thermal stress. In order to attenuate the effects of heat stress, thermal manipulation (TM), which involves changes in incubation temperature at certain points of embryonic development, is increasingly being presented as a way in which to improve broiler thermotolerance. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate how TM might affect broiler response to post-hatch thermal stress in the context of the genes that help combat oxidative damage, namely the catalase, NADPH oxidase 4 ( ), and superoxide dismutase 2 ( ) genes. Expression of all three aforementioned genes differed significantly between TM and control chickens after exposure to cold and heat stress. Conclusively, TM may act as a viable mode of preventative treatment for broilers at risk of thermally induced oxidative stress.