Experiments were conducted to study the effects of dietary taurine and housing density on oviduct function in laying hens. Green-shell laying hens were randomly assigned to a free range group and two caged groups, one...Experiments were conducted to study the effects of dietary taurine and housing density on oviduct function in laying hens. Green-shell laying hens were randomly assigned to a free range group and two caged groups, one with low-density and the other with high-density housing. Each group was further divided into control（C） and taurine treatment（T） groups. All hens were fed the same basic diet except that the T groups＇ diet was supplemented with 0.1% taurine. The experiment lasted 15 d. Survival rates, laying rates, daily feed consumption, and daily weight gain were recorded. Histological changes, inflammatory mediator levels, and oxidation and anti-oxidation levels were determined. The results show that dietary taurine supplementation and reduced housing density significantly attenuated pathophysiological changes in the oviduct. Nuclear factor-κB（NF-κB） DNA binding activity increased significantly in the high-density housing group compared with the two other housing groups and was reduced by taurine supplementation. Tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α） m RNA expression in the high-density and low-density C and T groups increased significantly. In the free range and low-density groups, dietary taurine significantly reduced the expression of TNF-α m RNA. Supplementation with taurine decreased interferon-γ（IFN-γ） m RNA expression significantly in the low-density groups. Interleukin 4（IL-4） m RNA expression was significantly higher in caged hens. IL-10 m RNA expression was higher in the high-density C group than in the free range and low-density C groups. Supplementation with taurine decreased IL-10 m RNA expression significantly in the high-density group and increased superoxide dismutase（SOD） activity in the free range hens. We conclude that taurine has important protective effects against oviduct damage. Reducing housing density also results in less oxidative stress, less inflammatory cell infiltration, and lower levels of inflammatory mediators in the oviduct. Therefore, both dietary 展开更多
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.31101783 and 31472164)the Special Fund for Independent Innovation of Agricultural Science and Technology in Jiangsu Province of China(No.CX(13)3070)
文摘Experiments were conducted to study the effects of dietary taurine and housing density on oviduct function in laying hens. Green-shell laying hens were randomly assigned to a free range group and two caged groups, one with low-density and the other with high-density housing. Each group was further divided into control（C） and taurine treatment（T） groups. All hens were fed the same basic diet except that the T groups＇ diet was supplemented with 0.1% taurine. The experiment lasted 15 d. Survival rates, laying rates, daily feed consumption, and daily weight gain were recorded. Histological changes, inflammatory mediator levels, and oxidation and anti-oxidation levels were determined. The results show that dietary taurine supplementation and reduced housing density significantly attenuated pathophysiological changes in the oviduct. Nuclear factor-κB（NF-κB） DNA binding activity increased significantly in the high-density housing group compared with the two other housing groups and was reduced by taurine supplementation. Tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α） m RNA expression in the high-density and low-density C and T groups increased significantly. In the free range and low-density groups, dietary taurine significantly reduced the expression of TNF-α m RNA. Supplementation with taurine decreased interferon-γ（IFN-γ） m RNA expression significantly in the low-density groups. Interleukin 4（IL-4） m RNA expression was significantly higher in caged hens. IL-10 m RNA expression was higher in the high-density C group than in the free range and low-density C groups. Supplementation with taurine decreased IL-10 m RNA expression significantly in the high-density group and increased superoxide dismutase（SOD） activity in the free range hens. We conclude that taurine has important protective effects against oviduct damage. Reducing housing density also results in less oxidative stress, less inflammatory cell infiltration, and lower levels of inflammatory mediators in the oviduct. Therefore, both dietary
