The Effect of Lighting Program and Melatonin on the Alleviation of the Negative Impact of Heat Stress on the Immune Response in Broiler Chickens


Authors

  • Ahmed O. Abbas Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Egypt
  • Ahmed E. Gehad Department of Animal Production, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt
  • Gilbert L. Hendricks Department of Poultry Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA, 16802
  • H.B.A. Gharib Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Egypt
  • Magdi M. Mashaly Department of Poultry Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA, 16802

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3923/ijps.2007.651.660

Keywords:

Broilers, heat stress, immunity, light, melatonin

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to study the effect of lighting program and melatonin addition to the diet on the immune responses of broiler chickens under chronic heat stress. In the first experiment, two groups of male broiler chickens received Continuous Light (CL) (23L: 1D) while another two groups received Intermittent Light (IL) (1L: 3D). From 4 to 6 wk of age, a group from each light program was exposed to 35 °C versus 24 °C for the other two groups. Heat stressed chickens under IL had significantly lower (p<0.05) body temperatures, pro-inflammatory cytokines levels and corticosterone concentrations in their plasma, compared to the heat stressed chickens under CL. Furthermore, in the heat stressed groups, the IL group had a significantly higher (p<0.05) cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity response and T-cell proliferation, compared to the CL group. In the second experiment, two groups of male broiler chickens were fed a diet containing melatonin (40 ppm), while the other two groups received a melatonin free diet (0 ppm), from 4 to 6 wk of age. Concurrently, a group from each melatonin treatment was exposed to 35 °C versus 24 °C in the other group. The heat stressed chickens receiving melatonin had significantly lower (p<0.05) body temperatures, pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1 and IL-6 and corticosterone concentrations. Furthermore, in the heat stressed birds, the melatonin group had a higher but not significant cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity response and T-cell proliferation. The current study indicates that intermittent light and melatonin administration can be used to ameliorate immunosuppression associated with heat stress in broiler chickens.

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Published

2007-08-15

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 9 (2007)

Section

Research Article

License

Copyright (c) 2007 Asian Network for Scientific Information

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

How to Cite

Abbas, A. O., Gehad, A. E., Hendricks, G. L., Gharib, H., & Mashaly, M. M. (2007). The Effect of Lighting Program and Melatonin on the Alleviation of the Negative Impact of Heat Stress on the Immune Response in Broiler Chickens. International Journal of Poultry Science, 6(9), 651–660. https://doi.org/10.3923/ijps.2007.651.660