Cold stress induces antioxidants and Hsps in chicken immune organs

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of cold stress on oxidative indexes, immune function, and the expression levels of heat shock protein (Hsp90, Hsp70, Hsp60, Hsp40, and Hsp27) in immune organs of chickens. Two hundred forty 15-day-old male chickens were randomly divided into 12 groups and kept under the temperature of (12 ± 1) °C for acute and chronic cold stress. There were one control group and five treatment groups for acute cold stress and three control groups and three treatment groups for chronic cold stress. The results showed that cold stress influence the activities of antioxidant enzymes in the immune organs. The activities of SOD and GSH-Px were first increased then decreased, and activity of total antioxidation capacity (T-AOC) was significantly decreased (P < 0.05) at the acute cold stress in chicks; however, T-AOC activities were significantly increased (P < 0.05) at the chronic cold stress in these tissues. Cold stress induced higher level of malondialdehyde (MDA) in chicken immune organs. In addition, the cytokine contents were increased in cold stress groups. As one protective factor, the expression levels of Hsps were increased significantly (P < 0.05) in both cold stress groups. These results suggested that cold stress induced the oxidative stress in the three tissues and influenced immune function of chicks. Higher expression of Hsps (Hsp90, Hsp70, Hsp60, Hsp40, and Hsp27) may play a role in protecting immune organs against cold stress.