Potential molecular mechanism of ascites syndrome in broilers

SUMMARYAscites syndrome in broilers (AS), also known as broiler pulmonary hypertension syndrome (PHS), is a common nutritional and metabolic disease in commercial broilers. It is a disease characterised by a progressive increase in pulmonary artery pressure, followed by right ventricular hypertrophy, right heart failure and ultimately death. Diseased chickens with AS have characteristic lesions including right heart hypertrophy, ascites, pulmonary congestion and pulmonary oedema can be observed after opening the thoracic cavity. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a key link in the development of AS in broilers. Pulmonary artery vasoconstriction and pulmonary artery remodelling promote the development of AS. The AS is commonly influenced by a variety of mechanisms including hypoxia, endothelial dependency regulation, vascular active material imbalance, oxidative stress, inflammation, in situ thrombosis and genetic tendency. This review focuses on the regulation of vasoactive substances, oxidative stress, Hypoxia-inducible factors, immunomodulation and non-epigenetic phenomena on AS. The aim of this study is to review the current understanding of the pathogenesis of AS and to provide insights into the future development of this growing field for the control of AS in broiler chickens.KEYWORDS: Broilerascites syndromepulmonary artery vasoconstrictionvascular remodelling Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Author contributionsAll authors listed made direct and substantial contribution to this manuscript.Additional informationFundingThe study was supported by Guangdong Natural Science Foundation (2021A151501047).Notes on contributorsZhenyan MiaoZhenyan Miao is a graduate student at the College of Veterinary Medicine of South China Agricultural University. His current research topic is ascites syndrome in broilers.Muhammad Shahan HaiderDr. Muhammad Shahan Haider has completed his M.B.B.S from Bahria Uni Medical and Dental College Karachi. In 4th year M.B.B.S, he researched “mouth cancer association with eating pan and gutka” with CHS subject colleagues. After house job he was appointed as medical officer at RHC Luddan in 2020 and worked for 11 months there. He was then appointed at “CVS gymnasium Mailsi” to observe and treat reactions after covid vaccination, about 10 months. Currently he is working as In-charge Health officer at BHU Mailsi. He is interested to work on different animal models and related research regarding medicine and disease control.Mudassar NazarDr. Mudassar Nazar is currently working as Lecturer in the subject of Veterinary/ Animal Sciences at University of Agriculture Faisalabad Sub Campus Burewala. He did DVM from University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore, Pakistan. He did is MPhil in the subject of Veterinary Clinical Medicine and conducted research on the topic of Prevalence and chemotherapy of Schistosomiasis in cattle. Then in PhD he worked on fungal isolation, pure culture identification, mycotoxin extraction and purification, MTT assay, cell culture analysis, DNA extraction and analysis etc. During PhD he availed a six-month scholarship to work at Seoul National University South Korea and worked on embryology, IVM, IVC, OPU, IVF, Parthenogenesis and biotechnology along with production of related research papers. He is interested to work on different animal related research studies regarding their medicine, feed and disease control.Muhammad Khalid MansoorProf. Dr. Muhammad Khalid Mansoor completed his PhD in Veterinary Microbiology from University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. He is serving as Dean, Faculty of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. He has also worked in Animal Health Research Center (AHRC), Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Sultanate of Oman as an Expert for the development of Quality control Unit for evaluation of veterinary vaccines. Prof. Mansoor has been a lead investigator and coordinator of several research projects funded by national and international funding agencies. He has published more than forty research articles in well reputed national and international peer reviewed journals and reviewer of different peer reviewed journals. His research activities focus on molecular biology, virology, microbiology, cell culture, vaccinology and biotechnology and host virus interaction.Hui ZhangHui Zhang, Associate professor, MD/Ph.D. completed his Ph.D. at Huazhong Agricultural University. He worked as a Visiting Scholar at Department of Veterinary Medicine in Cornell University from 2018 to 2019. Dr. Zhang focuses on the molecular mechanism researches of animal’s nutrition metabolic diseases and toxicology.Zhaoxin TangZhaoxin Tang, Ph.D., professor. He obtained a doctorate in veterinary medicine from Northeast Agricultural University in 1994, and then engaged in postdoctoral research in the School of Veterinary Medicine of Nanjing Agricultural University and the University of Arkansas in the United States. Mainly engaged in animal nutrition metabolism disease and small animal clinical pathology research.Ying LiYing Li, Associate Professor, Ph.D. She received her Ph.D. from South China Agricultural University, and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Hebrew University of Israel for one year in 2012. Dr. Li is mainly engaged in animal nutrition metabolism and poisoning research.