Effect of growth hormone on steroid concentrations and mRNA expression of their receptor, and selected egg-specific protein genes in the chicken oviduct during pause in laying induced by fasting

This study was undertaken to examine the effect of growth hormone (GH) treatment during pause in laying on (1) the concentration of steroids in blood plasma and oviduct tissues, (2) the expression of mRNA of steroid receptors, and (3) the mRNA expression of selected egg-specific proteins in the chicken oviduct. A pause in egg laying was induced by food deprivation for 5 d, followed by feeding every other day, and then feeding daily from day 10 onwards. Birds were divided into three groups: control (n = 18) fed ad libitum, subjected to pause in laying (n = 18), and subjected to pause in laying and injected every day with 200 μg/kg BW of chicken GH (chGH; n = 18).
Source: Domestic Animal Endocrinology - Category: Endocrinology Authors: Source Type: research