Histometric study of age related changes in the thoracic aorta of Gallus gallus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Heart ventricular histology and microvasculature together with aortic histology and elastic lamellar structure: A comparison of a novel dual-purpose to a broiler chicken line

The use of dual-purpose chickens is a strategy to avoid killing one-day-old male chicks of egg laying lines. Lohmann Dual (LD) is a novel dual-purpose chicken line created by the crossbreeding of layer and broiler lines. However, many of the cardiovascular diseases of broilers are likely to be associated with intensive genetic selection for growth and feed conversion efficiency. This study aimed to compare the macroscopic and microscopic structure of the heart and the aorta of the LD chicken line with that of the broiler chicken line, Ross 308 (Ross) under typical husbandry conditions for meat production. Eighty, one-day-old male chicks of each line were housed for 5 weeks (Ross) and 9 weeks (LD). Six birds of each line were sampled weekly. Heart mass, thickness of ventricular walls, cardiomyocyte size and blood capillary density as well as aortic diameter and thickness, number of elastic lamellae and elastic fiber percentage in the aortic wall were determined. The growth patterns of the heart were the same in the two lines. Although LD chickens had a lower absolute heart mass than that of Ross chickens, the relative heart mass in both lines was similar. The cardiomyocytes of LD chickens were larger than those of Ross’s of the same body weight (BW), nevertheless both lines had similar thicknesses of their ventricular walls. The blood capillary density was greater in the LD heart than in that of the Ross heart. The aorta of LD chickens had proportionally; a greater aortic lumen radius, larger numbers of elastic lamellae and more elastic fibers than in Ross chickens. Our results suggest that the heart and aorta of the LD chickens have not been disadvantaged by their intensive genetic selection; furthermore, LD chickens have a better myocardial capillary supply and better aortic mechanical properties than those of Ross chickens.

A quantitative study of the aorta of the chicken (Gallus domesticus)

The different segments of the aorta were studied quantitatively in five age groups of chicken. It was observed that the widest diameter and the thickest media occur on the 56th day in each segment, except for the thoracic aorta, which had the widest diameter on the 42nd day and the thickest media on the 70th day. The percentage of the intima, media and the adventitia, as compared with the total wall thickness, was determined and it was found that this value was quite similar in age group, but the differences were significant from one segment to another. The ratio between the total wall thickness and the lumen diameter was also calculated in each segment.