Differences in egg deposition of corticosterone and embryonic expression of corticosterone metabolic enzymes between slow and fast growing broiler chickens

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are vital for embryonic development and their bioactivity is regulated by the intracellular metabolism involving 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (11β-HSDs) and 20-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (20-HSD). Here we sought to reveal the differences in egg deposition of corticosterone and embryonic expression of corticosterone metabolic enzymes between slow and fast growing broiler chickens (Gallus gallus). Eggs of fast-growing breed contained significantly higher (P < 0.05) corticosterone in the yolk and albumen, compared with that of a slow-growing breed. 11β-HSD1 and 11β-HSD2 were expressed in relatively higher abundance in the liver, kidney and intestine, following similar tissue-specific ontogenic patterns. In the liver, expression of both 11β-HSD1 and 11β-HSD2 was upregulated (P < 0.05) towards hatching, yet 20-HSD displayed distinct pattern showing a significant decrease (P < 0.05) on posthatch day 1 (D1). Hepatic mRNA expression of 11β-HSD1 and 11β-HSD2 was significantly higher in fast-growing chicken embryos at all the embryonic stages investigated and so was the hepatic protein content on embryonic day of 14 (E14) for 11β-HSD1 and on E14 and D1 for 11β-HSD2. 20-HSD mRNA was higher in fast-growing chicken embryos only on E14. Our data provide the first evidence that egg deposition of corticosterone, as well as the hepatic expression of glucocorticoid metabolic enzymes, differs between fast-growing and slow-growing chickens, which may account, to some extent, for the breed disparities in embryonic development.