Authors : De-Bing Li, Chao Li, Shan-Shan Shao, Gong-Wei Zhang, Yong Tang, Ding-Gang Zhou and Xue-Wei Li
Abstract: To investigate the effects of dietary Vitamin D3 (VD3) on MHC-II-β gene expression in Monopterus albus (M. albus). A total of 540 healthy M. albus (weigh, 21.7±2.1 g) were randomly assigned to six groups (3 replicates per group, 30 M. albus per replicate) and fed with dietary VD3 at various concentrations (0 (control), 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000 and 4,000 IU kg-1). After 20, 40 and 60 days of feeding, researchers randomly selected six M. albus from each group and collected tissues (hepatopancreas, spleen, head kidney and hindgut) for detection of MHC-II-β gene expression using real-time quantitative PCR. MHC-II-β was expressed in four tissues with expression in the head kidney significantly higher (p<0.01) than that in the spleen, hindgut and hepatopancreas. At 20 days, the highest MHC-II-β expression was detected in the 4,000 IU kg-1 group in the head kidney and in the 2,000 IU kg-1 group in the spleen, both of which were significantly higher than that of the other groups (p<0.05). At 40 days, the 1000 IU kg-1 group showed the highest MHC-II-β expression in the head kidney, hindgut and hepatopancreas. At 60 days, the 500 IU kg-1 group showed the highest MHC-II-β expression in the head kidney and spleen and was significant higher than that of the control (p<0.05) while the 4,000 IU kg-1 group showed significantly lower MHC-II-β expression compared to the control (p<0.05). Relative to the MHC-II-β expression in the head kidney, the results demonstrate that short-term (20 days) and high dose dietary provision of VD3 (4,000 IU kg-1) significantly increased MHC-II-β expression in M. albus immune organs. However, the highest MHC-II-β expression was observed with long-term (60 days) dietary provision of VD3 at a dose of 500 IU kg-1.
De-Bing Li, Chao Li, Shan-Shan Shao, Gong-Wei Zhang, Yong Tang, Ding-Gang Zhou and Xue-Wei Li, 2013. Effects of Dietary Vitamin D3 on MHC-II-β Gene Expression in Immune Tissues of Monopterus albus. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 12: 215-220.