Silky chicken is a breed of chickens with black skin and slow growth rate used in chinese traditional medicine, whereas Arbor Acres broiler is a well-known commercial breed in the poultry industry, it is featured by a large size, rapid-growth rate, high feed-conversion rate and strong adaptability. The difference in their rate of growth may be primarily related to different mechanism for glucose metabolism. Here we compared the insulin sensitivity of the two breeds; we investigated the temporal changes (at 0 min, 120 min and 240 min) of serum insulin and other biochemical parameters and determined the spatio-temporal changes of gene mRnA abundance in response to exogenous insulin (80 μg/kg body weight). The results indicated that: (1) Silky chickens showed stronger blood glucose recovery than broilers in the insulin resistance test. (2) The serum urea level in Silky chickens was twice of broilers; exogenous insulin significantly up-regulated serum uric acid level in Silky fowls in a time-dependent manner and increased serum cholesterol content at 120 min. (3) Two breeds showed distinctly different temporal changed in serum insulin in response to exogenous insulin stimulation. the fasting serum insulin concentration of broilers was threefold of Silky chickens at the basal state; it decreased significantly after insulin injection and the levels at 120 min and 240 min of broilers were only 23% (P < 0.01) and 14% (P < 0.01) of the basal state, respectively. Whereas the serum insulin content in Silky chickens showed stronger recovery, and the 240 min level was close to the 0 min level. (4) GLUT2, GLUT12, neuropeptide Y and insulin receptor (IR) were predominantly expressed in the liver, pectoralis major, olfactory bulb and pancreas, respectively, where these genes presented stronger insulin sensitivity. In addition, the IR mRNA level was strongly positively with the GLUT12 level. In conclusion, our findings suggested that Silky chickens have a stronger ability to regulate glucose homeostasis than broilers, owing to their higher iR levels in the basal state, stronger serum insulin homeostasis and candidate genes functioning primarily in their predominantly expressed tissue in response to exogenous insulin. Insulin is secreted by islet beta cells 1 , and is the only protein hormone in the body that can lower blood glucose levels 2. The action of insulin are a critical part of normal development, food intake, and energy balance 3. Chickens are insulin-resistant and significantly resistant to high concentrations of insulin; they have higher blood glucose concentration than mammals, even in a fasted state 4 , but do not develop diabetes. The uptake of glucose in the bloodstream is the rate-limiting step in systemic glucose utilization, and this process is regulated by the membrane protein family of glucose transporters (GLUTs) 5. The expression and protein activity of GLUTs are important for maintaining glucose homeostasis and providing nutrient substrates 6. GLUT4 is present almost exclusively in insulin-sensitive tissues...
Subunit 2 of NADH dehydrogenase (ND2) is encoded by the mt-ND2 gene and plays a critical role in controlling the production of the mitochondrial reactive oxygen species. Our study focused on exploring the mt-ND2 tissue expression patterns and the effects of energy restriction and dietary fat (linseed oil, corn oil, sesame oil or lard) level (2.5% and 5%) on its expression in chicken. The results showed that mt-ND2 gene was expressed in the 15 tissues of hybrid chickens with the highest level in heart and lowest level in pancreas tissue; 30% energy restriction did not significantly affect mt-ND2 mRNA level in chicken liver tissue. Both the mt-ND2 mRNA levels in chicken pectoralis (p < 0.05) and hepatic tissues (p < 0.05) at 42 d-old were affected by the type of dietary fats in 5% level, while not in abdominal fat tissues. The expression of mt-ND2 in hepatic tissues was down-regulated with chicken age (p < 0.01). The interactive effect of dietary fat types with chicken age (p < 0.05) was significant on mt-ND2 mRNA level. The study demonstrated that mt-ND2 gene was extensively expressed in tissues, and the expression was affected by dietary fat types and chicken age.
Slow transit constipation (STC) is the most common type of functional constipation. Drugs with good effects and few side effects are urgently needed form the treatment of STC. Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf (CC) is an important medicinal and edible spice plant. The wide range of biological activities suggested that CC may have laxative effects, but thus far, it has not been reported. In this study, the loperamide-induced STC mouse model was used to evaluate the laxative effect of the aqueous extract of CC (CCAE), and the laxative mechanism was systematically explored from the perspectives of the enteric nervous system (ENS), neurotransmitter secretion, gastrointestinal motility factors, intestinal inflammation, gut barrier and gut microbiota. The results showed that CCAE not only decreased the serum vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), induced nitric oxide synthases (iNOS), and acetylcholinesterase (AchE) in STC mice but also increased the expression of gastrointestinal motility factors in colonic interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) and smooth muscle cells (SMCs), thereby significantly shortening the defecation time and improving the gastrointestinal transit rate. The significantly affected gastrointestinal motility factors included stem cell factor receptor (c-Kit), stem cell factor (SCF), anoctamin 1 (Ano1), ryanodine receptor 3 (RyR3), smooth muscle myosin light chain kinase (smMLCK) and Connexin 43 (Cx43). Meanwhile, CCAE could repair loperamide-induced intestinal inflammation and intestinal barrier damage by reducing the expression of the pro-inflammatory factor IL-1β and increasing the expression of the anti-inflammatory factor IL-10, chemical barrier (Muc-2) and mechanical barrier (Cldn4, Cldn12, Occludin, ZO-1, and ZO-2). Interestingly, CCAE could also partially restore loperamide-induced gut microbial dysbiosis in various aspects, such as microbial diversity, community structure and species composition. Importantly, we established a complex but clear network between gut microbiota and host parameters. Muribaculaceae, Lachnospiraceae and UCG-010 showed the most interesting associations with the laxative phenotypes; several other specific taxa showed significant associations with serum neurotransmitters, gastrointestinal motility factors, intestinal inflammation, and the gut barrier. These findings suggested that CCAE might promote intestinal motility by modulating the ENS-ICCs-SMCs network, intestinal inflammation, intestinal barrier and gut microbiota. CC may be an effective and safe therapeutic choice for STC.
To study the effect of uniaxial compression on coal nanostructure during uniaxial compression, in situ synchrotron radiation small angle X-ray scattering experiments were carried out on four coals with different ranks under uniaxial compression. According to the scattering data during the uniaxial compression process, the fractal characteristics and the variation feature of fractal dimension with stress were obtained. Four coals with different ranks all possess two fractal characteristics: pore fractal occur in the smaller pore range (7–17 nm) in the high q value range, and surface fractal occur in the larger pore range (17–52 nm) in the low q value range. For two low rank coals, with increasing stress, the pore fractal dimension DP decreased and the surface fractal dimension DS increased, respectively; the variation trends of DP and DS were obvious. This indicates that with increasing stress, the heterogeneity and complexity of the pores decrease, the surface roughness of the pores increases, and stress has a significant effect on the nanopore structure. The smaller pores are more susceptible to stress, and the influence range of stress on low rank coals is larger than that on high rank coals. The change rate of fractal dimension (RD) has a poor relationship with compressibility during uniaxial loading and is related to coal rank. The RD per unit stress for high rank coals is larger than that for low rank coals. Nanostructure response to uniaxial compressive stress is more significant in low rank coals than in high rank coals. Compared with low rank coals, high rank coals have strong aromatization and molecular structure, and the nanostructures are less susceptible to failure under uniaxial stress.
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