Improvac immunocastration affects the development of thigh muscles but not pectoral muscles in male chickens

Improvac has been tentatively used to immune-castrate roosters. The aim of this study was to investigate whether Improvac affected skeletal muscle development in chickens. The muscle fiber type and size and the expression levels of genes related to muscle development in pectoral and thigh muscles were examined at 5, 9, and 14 wk of age in the control, early, late, and early + late Improvac-treated groups. Immunocastration with Improvac affected the development of thigh muscles and the expression of MYH1B, MSTN, and SM. The cross-sectional area in the early group was significantly larger than in the control group at the 14th week (P < 0.01). At the fifth week, the expression levels of MYH1B, MYOD, and MSTN in the early group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05), and at the ninth week, the expression level of SM1 in the control group was significantly lower than that in early and late groups (P < 0.05). Immunocastration did not affect pectoral muscle development or the expression of genes related to muscle development.

Expression level of microRNA-195 in the serum of patients with gastric cancer and its relationship with the clinicopathological staging of the cancer

OBJECTIVE

To study miroRNA-195 (miR-195) expression in the serum and cancer tissue of patients with gastric cancer and to investigate the relationship between its expression and clinicopathological features of gastric cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Sixty-two patients with gastric cancer admitted to our institution were included in the study group, and 36 healthy persons undergoing health check-up at our institution served as control group. miR-195 expressions in the serum, gastric cancer tissue and corresponding paracancerous tissue in subjects of two groups were measured by using quantitative fluorescent real-time PCR (QF-RT-PCR), and the relationship between miR-195 and the clinicopathological features of the cancer was investigated.

RESULTS

miR-195 expression level in the serum of gastric cancer patients was significantly lower than that in the control group (p <0.05). miR-195 expression in gastric cancer tissue was also significantly lower than that in corresponding paracancerous tissue (p <0.05). The results of correlation analysis showed that low expression of miR-195 was negatively correlated with the infiltration depth, the extent of differentiation, the clinical staging and lymph node metastasis, all with statistical significance (p <0.05), but not significantly correlated with tumor locations (p >0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Low expression of miR-195 in patients with gastric cancer may play a certain role in promoting the genesis and development of gastric cancer and it can function as a potential novel tumor marker for the early diagnosis and prognosis evaluation of gastric cancer.

Expression patterns of melatonin receptors in chicken ovarian follicles affected by monochromatic light

Artificial illumination is an important exogenous factor in the control of many physiological and behavioral processes as well as an important environmental factor in the management of laying hens. Melatonin receptors are members of the G protein-coupled receptor family. The hormone melatonin is secreted primarily by the pineal gland, with highest levels occurring during the dark period of a circadian cycle. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of monochromatic light on chicken egg reproduction and expression of melatonin receptors in chicken ovarian follicles. A total of 552 19-week-old hens were randomly divided into 4 groups with 138 birds in each group. Each group was randomly divided into 3 replicates with 46 birds in each replicate. Feed and water were provided for ad libitum. Light treatments were: control cool white (400-760 nm), blue (480 nm), green (560 nm), and red (660 nm). The short wavelength (blue light) group produced a greater total number of eggs at 300 days of age than did the long wavelength (red light) group, and the red light group showed higher melatonin receptor type 1A and melatonin receptor type 1C mRNA and protein expression. These results suggest that the wavelength of light is closely related to chicken egg number at 300 days of age; there is no effect of monochromatic light on melatonin receptor type 1B.

Effects of sex and age on chicken TBC1D1 gene mRNA expression

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of sex and slaughter age of chickens on fatty acid composition and TBC1D1 gene expression in 4 different tissues: breast muscle, thigh muscle, abdominal fat, and subcutaneous fat. Sixty Erlang mountainous chickens (hybrid SD02 x SD03) were raised under the same conditions and slaughtered at 8, 10, and 13 weeks of age. The results showed that the sex of the animal significantly affected the content of arachidic acid (C20:0), sinapic (C22:1), linoleic (C18:2n-6), eicosapentaenoic (C20:5n-3), and docosahexaenoic acids (C22:6n-3), whereas other fatty acid contents were not affected. Age had a significant effect on most monounsaturated fatty acids, except for octadecenoic acid (C18:1). TBC1D1 mRNA was abundant in all tissues at all 3 ages of slaughter. Cocks exhibited higher TBC1D1 mRNA levels than hens in the thigh muscle and abdominal fat at 10 and 13 weeks, respectively.

Effect of hybridization on carcass traits and meat quality of erlang mountainous chickens

Native chickens hold a significant share of the market in China. In response to the huge demand from the market, the productivity of Chinese native chickens needs to be improved. Cross breeding is an effective method to increase productivity, although it might affect meat quality. In this study, two pure lines (SD02 and SD03) of Erlang mountainous chickens were hybridized with a yellow feather and faster growing line (SD01). The effect of hybridization on carcass and meat quality (physiochemical and textural traits) was measured in the F1 population at d 91 of age. The hybrids exhibited higher body weight and dressed weight, and amount of semi-eviscerated, eviscerated, breast muscle and abdominal fat (p<0.05). Abdominal fat yield also increased (p<0.05) compared to the offspring of the two pure-lines. Meanwhile, there was no significant difference in meat quality traits except for the myofiber diameter and density and the shear force of the breast muscle. Overall, the offspring of cross-lines were similar to pure lines in meat color, pH value, inosinic acid, crude protein, crude fat, dry matter, moisture content and amino acid composition in the breast muscle. These results suggest that productivity can be improved via cross-breeding while maintaining meat quality of the Erlang mountainous chicken.