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Changes in luteinizing hormone‐containing gonadotrophs after moulting induced by fasting and zinc in laying hens ( Gallus domesticus )
Author(s) -
Sandhu M. A.,
Rahman Z. U.,
Hasan I. J.,
Rahman S. U.,
Yousaf M. S.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.651
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1439-0396
pISSN - 0931-2439
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0396.2007.00763.x
Subject(s) - gonadotropic cell , moulting , medicine , endocrinology , luteinizing hormone , biology , pituitary gland , hormone , ecology , larva
Summary The purpose of the present study was to investigate egg production performance, immunohistochemical (IHC) identification, localization and morphological characterization of moulted hen’s pars distalis luteinizing hormone (LH) gonadotrophs. This system has been validated for chicken LH by immunodetection of purified hormones on dot blots, western blotting and by specific labelling of cells on sagittal sections of chicken pituitaries. This study showed that egg production and egg weight increased significantly after zinc‐induced moult when compared with fasting‐induced moult. Luteinizing hormone‐gonadotrophs are of numerous shapes and distributed throughout the adenohypophysis, with densely populated regions on the margins of pars distalis. Moulting of laying hens was associated with a significant increase in immunoreactive LH gonadotroph cell count and cell size, which peaked at the subsequent production stages. Zinc‐induced moulting also caused a significant increase in LH gonadotroph cell size as compared with fasting‐induced moulting. The nuclear size of LH‐positive cells was distinct during decreased egg production. Our results validate the use of ovine LHβ antibodies for the IHC localization of chicken LH gonadotrophs. This technology was further applied to the characterization of the shape and morphological changes of gonadotrophs as a function of the egg production status of the birds.