APPLICATION OF ACUTE PHASE PROTEINS (APPs) AS BIOMARKERS IN CHICKENS: A REVIEW

Abstract

The importance of poultry industry to the world' economy is increasing. The current methods for identifying chickens' health problems are traditional and looking for new tools to diagnose poultry problems is of vital importance. Poultry industry is affected by infectious and metabolic disorders which are common in chickens and affect their well-being, cause stress, reduce performance and increase mortality. Measuring the acute phase proteins; secreted from the liver as a result of inflammation and/or infection that can be measured in plasma; levels were found to be useful in assessment of health status and prediction of diseases of the animals, and useful markers of inflammation in veterinary clinical pathology. Thus, acute phase proteins as diagnostic markers may be of a great value in identifying chickens' health problems, and thereby should allow optimal and fast measures to improve chickens' health and welfare. Although a wide range of studies has been carried out to determine the usefulness of acute phase proteins in several diseases in ruminants, their use as indicators in detection of diseases in chickens is less well documented. For this reason, this review article deals with the role of acute phase proteins in chickens' welfare, and brings together the studies on acute phase proteins that have been undertaken in chickens. In this review article, the immune system, acute phase response and the general diagnostic utility of acute phase proteins in veterinary practice were given. In addition, the most important acute phase proteins in chickens and their diagnostic utility in relation to metabolic disorders, inflammation, common chickens' diseases and stress were thoroughly discussed. Finally, this review highlights research gaps and directions deserving further development to create a better understanding of acute phase proteins for making these biomarkers a perfect predictive tool for chickens' health status and valuable diagnostic approaches in chickens.

Stress-Related Gene Expression in Liver Tissues from Laying Hens Housed in Conventional Cage and Cage-Free Systems in the Tropics

“…Te results of genetic selection for better productive characteristics are made under stable conditions, and subjecting the birds to a variable environment, such as cage-free systems, can generate stress and fear [43,44]. Following the APPs, the C-reactive protein (CRP) is a positive APP that increases its levels under a stimulus that according to its function protects against infection and regulates the infammation response and autoimmunity [45]. Te expression of the CRP gene showed a trend towards higher values in the laying hens housed in CC during the two sampling weeks evaluated.…”

Comparative Analysis of Growth Performance and Profitability of Four Broiler Commercial Strains Raised in Egypt

“…However, the performance parameters of broiler strains, including production potential, disease resistance, and adaptability to Egyptian conditions, may negatively impact farmer preferences. Environmental factors and other incidents can also significantly affect the productivity and livability of these strains (Al-Dawood, 2016;Al-Dawood and Al-Atiyat, 2022). The performance and management information provided by the breeder's company literature may not apply to the specific regional environmental conditions of a country (Rehman et al, 2018).…”

Effect of enzymes by substitution of corn with wheat on growth performance and digestibility of broilers

“…The poultry industry is recognized as the most popular emerging industry in the world (Al-Dawood, 2016). Poultry meat is an essential source of dietary protein and the industry has developed high grade poultry because of improved farming techniques, automation equipment, and comprehensive and balanced feeding, and other new technologies (Perini et al, 2021).…”