The Distribution Of NGF In Chickens And The Effect Of EDS-76Virus Infection On The Expression Of NGF

Nerve growth factor（NGF) is a very important member of the neurotrophic family (NTs). Recentstudies have found that NGF mRNA is not only expressed in a variety of male reproductive organs such astestes, epididymis, prostate, spermaduct and seminal vesicles, existing in human, rat, mouse, cattle, sheep,etc. NGF mRNA also plays a very important role in such fields as follicular development, ovulation,estrogen synthesis, zygote transport, fertilization and embryogenesis. Egg drop syndrome (EDS-76) is atypical avian reproductive system disease, with the ovarian atrophy and drop in egg production as its mainclinical features. Currently, research on the function of NGF mainly focuses on the mammal, but seldomresearch is done on the relationship between the expression of NGF in poultry in vivo and diseases.This paper applies the semi-quantitative PCR method to study the distribution of NGF mRNA inchicken, and the changes of the expression of NGF mRNA in testes and ovaries before and after sexualmaturity period. The sequence analysis showed that NGF of chicken′s has high homology with mammalian,and the mainly variant regions locationed on433bp~500bp. The results of PCR show that NGF mRNA isexpressed with different degrees in every organ of chicken. Among them, the expression level of NGFmRNA in lung is the highest, followed by heart, pancreas and glandular stomach. There is also highexpression level in testes and ovaries. The expression level of NGF mRNA in100-day-old rooster is thehighest, much higher than in the72-day-old,86-day-old and128-day-old rooster (p<0.05), making asignificant difference compared with the114-day-old rooster (p<0.01) but little difference compared withthe142-day-old and156-day-old rooster (p>0.05). The expression level of NGF mRNA in ovaries reachesthe highest in the142-day-old hen, much higher than in the86-day-old hen (p<0.05). There is nosignificant difference in other periods (p>0.05).The primiparity hens are infected with EDS-76virus for three weeks. When egg production drops, thesemi-quantitative PCR method is used to measure the effects of EDS-76virus on the expression of NGFmRNA in ovaries. The results show that the expression level of NGF mRNA in the virus-infected group ismuch higher than in the control group (p<0.05).According to the experimental results, there is close relationship between the expression of NGFmRNA in chickens and the development of organs and egg production. When the chicken are infected with the EDS-76virus, the compensatory enhancement in the expression level of NGF mRNA is the result of thebody resisting the damage of the disease. This study would provide a new idea to the treatment of avianreproductive system diseases.