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Involvement of mitochondrial pathway in environmental metal pollutant lead-induced apoptosis of chicken liver: perspectives from oxidative stress and energy metabolism

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Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the possible mechanisms of environmental metal pollutant lead (Pb)-induced apoptosis in chicken. Forty 8-day-old healthy chickens were randomly assigned to two groups (n = 20/group) after raising standard commercial diet and drinking water for 1 week: including control group and Pb group ((CH3COO)2Pb 350 mg/L of drinking water); the chickens were given euthanasia and collected livers at 90 days. A significant increase of apoptosis rate were found in Pb group and Pb induced obvious ultrastructural changes of chicken liver. The mRNA levels of glycometabolism key enzymes were significantly lower in Pb group than those in controls. Higher levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) were observed in Pb group; the activities of antioxidant enzymes and ATPases were significantly lower in Pb group than those in controls, while the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity was on the contrary. The mRNA and protein levels of pro-apoptotic genes were all lower in Pb group than those in controls. Altogether, Pb-induced mitochondrial swelling and nuclear chromatin condensation, oxidative stress, energy metabolism disorder, thereby lead to apoptosis via mitochondrial pathway in chicken liver, suggesting that Pb-induced mitochondrial pathway apoptosis plays an important role in the mechanisms of Pb cytotoxicity to chicken liver.

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Abbreviations

Pb:

Lead

Drp1:

Dynamin-related protein l

Fis1:

Fission 1

Mfn1:

Mitofusin 1

Mfn2:

Mitofusin 2

OPA1:

Optic atrophy 1

HK2:

Hexokinase 2

PK:

Pyruvate kinase

SDH:

Succinatedehydrogenase

PDHX:

Pyruvate dehydrogenase

NO:

Nitric oxide

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

GSH-Px:

Glutathione peroxidise

iNOS:

Inducible nitric oxide synthase

Bcl-2:

B cell lymphoma-2

Bax:

Bcl-2-associated X protein

Cyt-c:

Cytochrome c

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Heilongjiang Key Laboratory for Laboratory Animals and Comparative Medicine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, People’s Republic of China

    Qianru Chi, Tianqi Liu, Zhepeng Sun, Siran Tan & Shu Li

  2. College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, People’s Republic of China

    Shiping Li

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  1. Qianru Chi
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  2. Tianqi Liu
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  3. Zhepeng Sun
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  4. Siran Tan
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  5. Shiping Li
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Contributions

Shu Li conceived and designed the experiments. Qianru Chi, Tianqi Liu, Zhepeng Sun, Siran Tan performed the experiments. Qianru Chi analyzed the data and wrote the paper. Shu Li and Shiping Li assisted in critically revising the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Shiping Li or Shu Li.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Chi, Q., Liu, T., Sun, Z. et al. Involvement of mitochondrial pathway in environmental metal pollutant lead-induced apoptosis of chicken liver: perspectives from oxidative stress and energy metabolism. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 28121–28131 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0411-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0411-6

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