| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Heat stress (HS) negatively affects the growth performance of broiler chickens; however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this project, we investigated to characterize HS-induced metabolic dysregulation and the positive responses to attenuate the HS effects in chickens. Embryos obtained from breeding hens reared in summer or autumn were hatched, and chickens were reared under the same atmospheric conditions for three weeks. HS treatment increased body temperature, plasma corticosterone, uric acid, interleukin-6 content in chickens from autumn-embryo, while these elevations were not observed in chicken from summer-embryo. Metabolomic analysis revealed that plasma and hepatic 3-hydroxy butyrate levels, which is an anti-inflammatory metabolite, were reduced by HS in chickens from autumn-embryo, while it did not occur in chickens from summer-embryo. These results suggest that anti-inflammatory capacity could be associated with the heat tolerance ability of broiler chickens.
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