A. Diazcruz et al., HEPATIC AND CARDIAC OXIDATIVE STRESS AND OTHER METABOLIC CHANGES IN BROILERS WITH THE ASCITES SYNDROME, Poultry science, 75(7), 1996, pp. 900-903
The objective of this study was to evaluate the gluconeogenic response
of in vitro stimulated hepatocytes from control broilers and broilers
with clinical manifestations of the ascites syndrome. The basal rate
of glucose synthesis from lactate was found to be threefold greater in
sick birds than in the control group and stimulation obtained with ep
inephrine was found to be quantitatively similar in both groups. Under
basal conditions, the hepatocytes from the sick broilers exhibited 60
% more ammonium than the control birds. In addition, the quantificatio
n of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, as indicators of cellula
r Lipoperoxidation, showed an increase of over 100% in heart and liver
of sick broilers fowl. In conclusion, the complex integrated response
of gluconeogenesis to epinephrine is maintained in broilers with asci
tes, although their hepatocytes present changes compatible with those
observed in cases of oxidative stress. It is not known whether this st
ress is a cause or a consequence of the ascites syndrome.