Pulmonary artery vasoactivity in broiler and Leghorn chickens: an age profile

Department of Medical Physiology, Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.

Vascular function plays a preponderant role in the pulmonary changes that occur with maturation, during birth, and in the development of pulmonary hypertension. This study was designed to characterize the changes in vasoactivity occurring in broiler and Leghorn chickens from late embryonic life to 5 wk of age. Pulmonary arteries were isolated from 19- and 20-d-old embryos, hatchlings, and 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-wk-old chickens of both lines and subjected to KCl (45.4 mM)- and endothelin-1 (10(-7.5) M)-induced vasoconstrictions followed by acetylcholine (ACh; 10(-5), 10(-6) and 10(-7) M)- and papaverine (10(-4) M)-induced vasodilations. Vasoconstrictions were greatest at hatch and rapidly declined thereafter, whereas vasodilations were greatest in 20-d-old embryos except with 10(-7) M ACh. Broilers grew faster than Leghorns and had lower vasodilation responses to all concentrations of ACh at 2 and 5 wk of age. Broilers also had greater right-to-total ventricular weight ratios at 5 wk of age, whereas ratios were greater in Leghorn embryos at 20 d of incubation and at hatch. Thus, for a brief period before hatch there is a significant increase in pulmonary endothelium-dependent vasodilation capacity in the chicken embryo, which may aid in the transition from chorioallantoic to pulmonary respiration. The absence of differences in vasodilator capacity between broilers and Leghorns before hatch suggests that the differences in pulmonary artery relaxation capacity and pulmonary hypertension observed after hatch in broilers are not necessarily acquired during incubation but may be related to rapid growth of the broiler chicken.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				O. T. Bowen, G. F. Erf, M. E. Chapman, and R. F. Wideman Jr. Plasma Nitric Oxide Concentrations in Broilers After Intravenous Injections of Lipopolysaccharide or Microparticles Poult. Sci., December 1, 2007; 86(12): 2550 - 2554. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. F. Wideman, M. E. Chapman, K. R. Hamal, O. T. Bowen, A. G. Lorenzoni, G. F. Erf, and N. B. Anthony An Inadequate Pulmonary Vascular Capacity and Susceptibility to Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Broilers Poult. Sci., May 1, 2007; 86(5): 984 - 998. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]