Ovarian autoimmunity Research ty in relation to egg production in laying hens

The aim of this study was to determine whether anti-ovarian autoantibodies appear in the circulation of laying hens and whether the concentrations of these antibodies change with respect to ageing and egg laying rate. Autoant ibodies to ovarian tissues in the circulation of aged (aged approximately 6 70 days) White Leghorn hens with low (< 50%) and high (> 90%) egg laying ra tes were examined by ELISA and western blotting. Young laying hens (aged 18 5 days) with > 95% egg production were used as controls. The results of the ELISA indicated that Igc, which bound to the ovary and small white follicl es, was present in the circulation of old laying hens. Move hens that laid few eggs had circulatory autoantibodies to the ovary and small white follic les, as determined by the cut-off value in ELISA (mean absorbance + 2 so of young laying hens), than did hens that laid greater numbers of eggs, and t he concentration of IgG was significantly higher in the hens that laid few eggs. In contrast, when the muscle proteins were used as antigens there wer e no significant differences in the absorbance value among low and high lay ing frequency old hens or young hens. Western blotting revealed many bands of immunoprecipitates formed by ovarian antigens and antibodies in the seru m of old hens, indicating the presence of many binding sites for circulator y IgG in ovarian tissues. These results indicate that antibodies to ovarian tissues appear in the circulation of laying hens during ageing, and that t he concentration of these autoantibodies is related inversely to the rate o f egg laying by hens.