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Effect of growth hormone on steroid content, proliferation and apoptosis in the chicken ovary during sexual maturation

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Abstract

The present study was undertaken to examine in vivo the effect of growth hormone (GH) on progesterone and estradiol levels and on cell proliferation and apoptosis in the chicken ovary during sexual maturation. Hy-Line chickens (10 weeks old) were injected three times a week with 200 μg recombinant chicken GH (cGH) per kilogram body weight until sexual maturity. GH treatment significantly increased ovarian weight at 16 weeks of age, i.e., ∼1 week before onset of egg laying. The progesterone content in the ovary just before and at the time of sexual maturity and the estradiol content before onset of egg laying were also elevated after cGH injections. The highest number of proliferating (positive for proliferating cell nuclear antigen) and apoptotic (positive for terminal-deoxynucleotidyl-transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling) cells was found in the ovarian stroma and white follicles (>1-4 mm diameter), whereas the lowest number of these cells was detected in yellow (>8-30 mm) follicles. Administration of cGH significantly stimulated cell proliferation and inhibited cell apoptosis in the ovarian stroma and small ovarian follicles. The number of ovarian follicles and the weight of the ovary prior to the first oviposition were also higher in cGH-injected hens. Thus, prior to and after the onset of egg laying, GH participates in the growth, maturation and hormonal activity of ovarian follicles in the chicken, via the regulation of steroidogenesis, proliferation and apoptosis processes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Ms. Maria Ogórek from the University of Agriculture in Krakow for technical assistance during the experiments and Dr. Maria Mika for help with the steroid analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Physiology and Endocrinology, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Al. Mickiewicza 24/28, 30–059, Krakow, Poland

    Anna Hrabia, Andrzej Sechman & Janusz Rząsa

  2. Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel

    Arieh Gertler

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  1. Anna Hrabia
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  2. Andrzej Sechman
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  3. Arieh Gertler
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  4. Janusz Rząsa
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Correspondence to Anna Hrabia.

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This study was supported by grant no. 2 P06D 034 28 from the Ministry of Education and Science, Poland (to A.H.) and, in part, by a DS-3243/KFiEZ.

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Hrabia, A., Sechman, A., Gertler, A. et al. Effect of growth hormone on steroid content, proliferation and apoptosis in the chicken ovary during sexual maturation. Cell Tissue Res 345, 191–202 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-011-1187-5

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