Importance of maternal effects in the regulation of response of inflammatory markers and expression pattern of TNF-α and Zo-1 genes in intestine and/or liver of Ross 308 broiler chickens

In this study, effects of the in ovo injection of Khazak egg yolk into the yolk of the Ross 308 eggs on some of offspring's inflammatory and immune indices as well as on the relative expression of intestinal and hepatic TNF-α and/or Zo-1 genes, were investigated. For this purpose, 250 fertile Ross 308 eggs were randomly assigned into two equal experimental groups including test (In ovo injection of Khazak yolk) and control (In ovo injection of Ross yolk) group. After hatching, chickens were reared for six weeks under the same standard environmental conditions with exposure to some certain inflammatory stimuli between 21-28 days of age. Chicken’s blood and/or tissues samples were collected on days 10 and 42, and the samples were analyzed for the target traits. Results showed that Khazak yolk component caused a reduction in the levels of pro-inflammatory TNF-α cytokine in both offspring's liver and intestinal tissue (P<0.05). Compared to the control group, khazak yolk injection was found to enhance the titer of IgA natural antibodyas well as primary and secondary antibody titer response against sheep red blood cells (SRBC) and reduces both serum levels of offspring's CRP protein and liver ALT enzyme (P<0.05). According to the results of the present study, injection of Khazak native hen egg-yolk into the yolk of eggs from Ross 308 commercial broiler breeder can effectively suppress the expression of TNF-α inflammatory cytokine in the offspring's liver and intestinal tissue.