AUTHOR=Malila Yuwares , Sanpinit Pornnicha , Thongda Wilawan , Jandamook Anuwat , Srimarut Yanee , Phasuk Yupin , Kunhareang Sajee 

TITLE=Influences of Thermal Stress During Three Weeks Before Market Age on Histology and Expression of Genes Associated With Adipose Infiltration and Inflammation in Commercial Broilers, Native Chickens, and Crossbreeds

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.858735

DOI=10.3389/fphys.2022.858735

ISSN=1664-042X

ABSTRACT=The objectives of this study were to examine the effects of cyclic thermal stress on histological characteristics of breast muscle and gene expression regarding adipose infiltration and inflammation in breast muscles collected from different breeds of chickens. The birds, from commercial broilers (CB, Ross 308, 3 wk), native (NT, 100% Thai native Chee, 9 wk), H75 (crossbred; 75% broiler and 25% NT, 5 wk), and H50 (crossbred; 50% broiler and 50% NT, 7 wk), were equally assigned into control or treatment groups. The control samples were reared under a constant temperature of 261C while the treatment groups were exposed to 351C (6 h per day). After 20-day thermal challenge, 12 male birds per treatment were randomly collected for determination of live body weight, breast weight, numbers of growth-related myopathies, and breast meat chemical composition. Histological lesions were evaluated in pectoralis major muscle immediately collected within 20-min postmortem based on hematoxylin and eosin staining. The results indicated that despite interaction between thermal stress and breed effects, thermal challenge significantly reduced feed intake, live body weight and breast weight of the birds and increased moisture content in the breast meat (p<0.05). Interaction between the two main factors were was found for protein content (p<0.05) of which control CB showed the lower protein than the other groups. Heat stress decreased histological scores for adipose infiltration in CB (p<0.05) but did not significantly influences such scores in the other groups. CB received histological scores for adipose tissue at the greater extent than the other groups. Differential absolute abundance of CD36, FABP4, LITAF, PDGFRA, PLIN1, PPARG, POSTN, SCD1 and TGFB1 in the muscle samples well agreed to the trend of histological scores, suggesting the potential involvement of dysregulated fibro-adipogenic progenitors together with imbalanced lipid storage and utilization in breast muscle. The findings demonstrated that the cyclic thermal challenge restricted growth performance and breast mass of the birds but such effects attenuated infiltration of adipose tissue and inflammatory cells in CB breast muscle.