Chronic heat stress and Salmonella enteritidis challenge in Japanese quail: immune effects in adult and transgenerational consequences.

GIAYETTO O.; VIDELA E. A; LÁBAQUE M. C; MARIN R. H. ; NAZAR F. N.

Campinas

Congreso; 2nd Latin American Scientific Conference; 2018

Poultry Science Association

Stressful events during production such as routine vaccination protocols and high environmental temperatures are common challenges for poultry species. Chicks? prenatal environment can be influenced by these events, inducing trans-generational effects. This study evaluated whether an immune challenge and a chronic heat stress (CHS) exposure on adult Japanese quail can modulate later immune responses and whether those effects can be reflected in their offspring. Eighty adults were inoculated with inactivated Salmonella enteritidis (challenge initiated at 115 days of age) and then exposed to a CHS along 9 days (between 121 to 129 days of age) by increasing the environmental temperatures from 25 to 34 °C during the daylight hours. A 2 x 2 factorial experimental design was used and 4 treatments groups (20 birds each) were therefore defined: Non Challenged-Non Stressed, Challenged-Non Stressed, Non Challenged-Stressed and Challenged-Stressed. Between 125 and 130 days of age, eggs were collected and incubated. Newly hatched chicks (n=82) were identified according to their parental treatments. Percentage of inflammation, Heterophil/Lymphocyte (H/L) ratio and antibody titers against sheep red blood cells (SRBC) were evaluated both in adults and their offspring. In adults, compared to controls, stressed groups showed a reduced percentage of inflammation (P