Effects of laying breeder hens dietary β-carotene, curcumin, allicin, and sodium butyrate supplementation on the jejunal microbiota and immune response of their offspring chicks

Our long-term goal is to improve chick health and reduce the use of antibiotics in the poultry industry via maternal effects. To link jejunal microbes with chicks' different immune levels and growth performance in our previous research, this study investigated jejunal microbes, jejunal inflammation, and immune responses based on a comparison between different groups. Newly hatched Hy-Line chicks were allotted into 3 groups: a chick control group (cCON), a ciprofloxacin lactate treatment group (Cipro)—the chicks of the cCON and Cipro groups were hatched from laying breeder hens given a basal diet—and a 5-wk β-carotene, curcumin, allicin, and sodium butyrate supplementation group (cCCAB), wherein chicks hatched from laying breeder hens. All groups were fed the same diet for 4 wk; the Cipro group was given ciprofloxacin lactate in drinking water continuously. At the end of the experiment, the results demonstrated that the jejunal microbes of the Cipro group showed significant changes in alpha and beta diversity, and in taxonomy at phylum and genus levels. Statistically, a total of 67 significantly enriched (P < 0.05) taxa were identified between groups by linear discriminant analysis effect size; Firmicutes was significantly enriched (P < 0.05) in the cCCAB group, 65 taxa were significantly enriched (P < 0.05) in the Cipro group, and 32 of the 65 enriched (P < 0.05) taxa were in the Proteobacteria phylum of the Cipro group. Levels of lipopolysaccharide in jejunal content, and nuclear factor kappa-B, and tumor necrosis factor-α in jejunums of the Cipro and cCCAB groups were increased (all P < 0.05) compared to those in the cCON group. There was obvious neutrophil infiltration and upregulated (all P < 0.05) IL-6 mRNA in the Cipro group jejunums compared to the cCON and cCCAB groups. The expression of PSME3 and PSME4 genes was upregulated (all P < 0.05) in the cCCAB group compared to the cCON and Cipro groups. In conclusion, ciprofloxacin lactate administration led to potential hazards in health and growth in chicks via microbial disturbances-induced jejunal inflammation, and laying breeder hens dietary supplementation with β-carotene, curcumin, allicin, and sodium butyrate could enhance jejunal immunity of their offspring via the interaction between host innate immunity selected microbial colonization and microbiota educated adaptive immunity.

Growth hormone-specific induction of the nuclear localization of porcine growth hormone receptor in porcine hepatocytes

The phenomenon of nuclear translocation of growth hormone receptor (GHR) in human, rat, and fish has been reported. To date, this phenomenon has not been described in a domestic animal (such as pig). In addition, the molecular mechanisms of GHR nuclear translocation have not been thoroughly elucidated. To this end, porcine hepatocytes were isolated and used as a cell model. We observed that porcine growth hormone (pGH) can induce porcine GHR's nuclear localization in porcine hepatocytes. Subsequently, the dynamics of pGH-induced pGHR's nuclear localization were analyzed and demonstrated that pGHR's nuclear localization occurs in a time-dependent manner. Next, we explored the mechanism of pGHR nuclear localization using different pGHR ligands, and we demonstrated that pGHR's nuclear translocation is GH(s)-dependent. We also observed that pGHR translocates into cell nuclei in a pGH dimerization-dependent fashion, whereas further experiments indicated that IMPα/β is involved in the nuclear translocation of the pGH-pGHR dimer. The pGH-pGHR dimer may form a pGH-GHR-JAK2 multiple complex in cell nuclei, which would suggest that similar to its function in the cell membrane, the nuclear-localized pGH-pGHR dimer might still have the ability to signal.