Transport stress induces weight loss and heart injury in chicks: disruption of ionic homeostasis via modulating ion transporting ATPases

// Zhao-Yang Li 1,* , Jia Lin 1,* , Feng Sun 1,* , Hui Li 1,2,* , Jun Xia 1,3 , Xue-Nan Li 1,4 , Jing Ge 1,4 , Cong Zhang 1,3 and Jin-Long Li 1,3,4 1 College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, P. R. China 2 Harbin Sport University, Harbin, P. R. China 3 Department of Heilongjiang for Common Animal Disease Prevention and Treatment, Key Laboratory of the Provincial Education Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, P. R. China 4 Heilongjiang Key Laboratory for Laboratory Animals and Comparative Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, P. R. China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Jin-Long Li, email: // Keywords : transport stress; weight loss; heart injury; ionic disorder; ATPase; Pathology Section Received : January 13, 2017 Accepted : February 24, 2017 Published : March 04, 2017 Abstract Transportation is inevitable in the poultry industry, and it can induce stress to chicks in varying degrees, such as mild discomfort, sometimes even death. However, the research about the effects of transport stress on the weight loss and heart injury of chicks is lacking. To elucidate the underlying mechanism of transport stress-induced effects, chicks were transported for 2h, 4h and 8h. The creatinine kinase (CK) activities, the ionic contents, the ATPases activities and the transcription of the ATPase associated subunits in chick heart were detected. The results showed that transport stress increased the weight loss and the CK activity, disturbed the ionic (K + , Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ ) homeostasis and inhibited the ATPase (Na + -K + -ATPase, Ca 2+ -ATPase, Mg 2+ -ATPase and Ca 2+ -Mg 2+ -ATPase) activities, increased the ATP content and downregulated the gene expression levels of the ATPase associated subunits in heart. In conclusion, transport stress disturbed the ionic homeostasis via modulating ion transporting ATPases and the transcriptions of the associated subunits, and ultimately induced weight loss and heart injury in chicks.