TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of feed restriction and realimentation on digestive and immune function in the leghorn chick
AU - Fassbinder-Orth, C. A.
AU - Karasov, W. H.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Todd McWhorter, Ryan Oettiker, Brittney Vander Heiden, and Maggie Madden for their technical assistance. This project was funded by USDA (Hatch) WIS142P894, NSF IBN-0216709, and the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation.
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - How regulatory changes of digestive and immune functions of the gut influence each other has not been sufficiently studied. We tested for simultaneous changes in the digestive physiology and mucosal immune function of the guts of White Leghorn cockerel chicks undergoing food restriction and realimentation. Chicks were assigned to 1 of 3 groups: control = fed ad libitum 7 to 17 d of age; restricted = feed restricted d 12 to 17 (at 2 restriction levels: 54 and 34% ad libitum); refed = feed restricted d 7 to 13 and then fed ad libitum d 14 to 17. Refed chicks exhibited 1 d of hyperphagy and an increase in apparent digestive efficiency following restriction (ANOVA, P <0.001). Total small intestine mass and duodenal maltase activity differed among the groups in the order refed > control > restricted, as expected (ANOVA, P <0.05 for both measures). In contrast, there were no significant treatment effects on our measures of gut immune structure and function, including bursa mass, spleen mass, and total IgA content of intestinal flush samples measured with standard ELISA techniques. The results of this study indicated that, during feed restriction and realimentation, some features of gut immune function are maintained unchanged in the face of regulatory changes that influence digestive functions.
AB - How regulatory changes of digestive and immune functions of the gut influence each other has not been sufficiently studied. We tested for simultaneous changes in the digestive physiology and mucosal immune function of the guts of White Leghorn cockerel chicks undergoing food restriction and realimentation. Chicks were assigned to 1 of 3 groups: control = fed ad libitum 7 to 17 d of age; restricted = feed restricted d 12 to 17 (at 2 restriction levels: 54 and 34% ad libitum); refed = feed restricted d 7 to 13 and then fed ad libitum d 14 to 17. Refed chicks exhibited 1 d of hyperphagy and an increase in apparent digestive efficiency following restriction (ANOVA, P <0.001). Total small intestine mass and duodenal maltase activity differed among the groups in the order refed > control > restricted, as expected (ANOVA, P <0.05 for both measures). In contrast, there were no significant treatment effects on our measures of gut immune structure and function, including bursa mass, spleen mass, and total IgA content of intestinal flush samples measured with standard ELISA techniques. The results of this study indicated that, during feed restriction and realimentation, some features of gut immune function are maintained unchanged in the face of regulatory changes that influence digestive functions.
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U2 - 10.1093/ps/85.8.1449
DO - 10.1093/ps/85.8.1449
M3 - Article
C2 - 16903477
AN - SCOPUS:33748374225
VL - 85
SP - 1449
EP - 1456
JO - Poultry Science
JF - Poultry Science
SN - 0032-5791
IS - 8
ER -