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ARS Home » Midwest Area » West Lafayette, Indiana » Livestock Behavior Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #123178
Title: GENETICALLY DIFFERENTIAL REGULATION OF THE SEROTONIN SYSTEM BETWEEN BLOOD AND BRAIN IN LAYING HENS IN RESPONSE TO SOCIAL STRESS

Author
item Cheng, Heng Wei
item Singleton, Peter
item CHEN, YU - PURDUE UNIVERSITY
item MUIR, W - PURDUE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Society for Neuroscience Abstracts and Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/28/2001
Publication Date: 11/1/2001
Citation: CHENG, H., SINGLETON, P.B., CHEN, Y., MUIR, W.M. GENETICALLY DIFFERENTIAL REGULATION OF THE SEROTONIN SYSTEM BETWEEN BLOOD AND BRAIN IN LAYING HENS IN RESPONSE TO SOCIAL STRESS. SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE. 2001. V. 31. P. 1896.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Effects of social stress on regulation of the serotonin (5-HT) system were studied in chickens from White Leghorn lines selected for high (HGPS) and low (LGPS) group productivity and survivability. The selection parameters concentrated on cannibalism and flightiness in multiple colony cages. At 17-wks of age, 72 hens were randomly assigned into single and 2-hen cages. The 2-hen cages contained one hen from either the HGPS or LGPS line and one from a commercial Dekalb XL line that was used as a standardized genetic competitor. The data showed that, at 24-wk of age, the HGPS hens had greater concentrations of 5-HT and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5- HIAA), and a greater expression of 5-HT1A receptor mRNA in the hypothalamus (P < 0.05, respectively). In contrast, the LGPS hens tended to have greater plasma concentrations of 5-HT (P = 0.08). The results indicated that stress-induced differential regulation of blood and brain 5-HT expression were based on phenotype in the present study. The present chicken strains may provide new animal models for investigating the effects of genetic factors, among other factors, on the relationship between behavioral adaptability and 5-HT regulation in response to stress.