Effects Of Melatonin On The Chicken's C-Fos Expression Under Different Lighting

To study the influences of melatonin under different lighting on the expression of c-Fos in chicken's thymus, spleen, bursa of fabricius, bone marrow, kidney, adrenal gland, lung, small intestine and testis. Three groups of 1-day chickens 225 fed under different lighting conditions were divided into 6h short lighting, 18h long lighting and 12h control groups, with 75 in each group. After three weeks of control lighting, three batches were conducted contents of the c-Fos positive signal in the above-mentioned tissues by the immunohistochemical method. Then the IOD/area of positive signal was analyzed by Image-Pro Plus. The result as follow:In the bone marrow, the c-Fos positive signal was found in the white blood cell, and weren't found in erythrocyte. In the thymus, the c-Fos positive signal was found in the lymphocytes of medulla and cortex. In the bursa of fabricius, the c-Fos positive signal was found in the lymphocytes of bursal lymphoid nodules. In the spleen, the c-Fos positive signal was found in the lymphocytes of periarterial lymphatic sheath and splenic lymph nodules. In the kidney, the c-Fos positive signal was found in the epithelial cells of renal tubular. In the adrenal gland, the c-Fos positive signal was found in the cell of adrenal medulla. In the lung, the c-Fos positive signal was found in the epithelial cells of tertiary bronchus. In the small intestine, the c-Fos positive signal was found in the basal layer cell of enteraden and lymphocytes of lamina propria. In the testis, the c-Fos positive signal were found in the spermatogenesis cell and supporting cell of seminiferous tubule. With the increasing of melatonin under the short lighting, the IOD/area of c-Fos in thymus, spleen, bursa of fabricius, bone marrow, kidney, adrenal gland, lung, small intestine and testis was all decreased significantly (P<0.05) compared to control group (12h); with the decreasing of melatonin under the long lighting, the IOD/area of c-Fos was all increased significantly (P<0.05) compared to control group (12h). The 3 batches showed: the IOD/area of c-Fos in spleen, bursa of fabricius, kidney, adrenal gland, lung and small intestine was similar in the 3 batches; in the bone marrow and thymus, the IOD/area of c-Fos in the first batch was higher than other batch and the second batch and third batch were similar. In the testis, the IOD/area of c-Fos in the first batch was lower than other batch and the second batch and third batch were similar.