Studies on metabolic hormones, sex steroids and mRNA expression of caspase 2, Bcl-XL gene in ovarian follicles of Japanese quail hens during stress

The present study was aimed to explore the trend of biochemical and molecular changes ensued in the Japanese quail hens during stress. A total twenty-eight quail hens of 10 weeks of age were randomly selected and maintained under uniform husbandry conditions under 14h photo-schedule. Stress was induced by their complete 2hrs immobilization daily for 10 days. Four birds each were sacrificed on day 0, 1,2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 with day 0 serving as untreated control. The metabolic hormones and sex steroids were estimated to analyze their physiological adaptation during stress. Hierarchial (F₁, F₂, F₃) and atretic follicles (AF) were used for the expression study of caspase 2 and Bcl XL genes. The mean glucose and corticosterone level showed an increasing trend while as gradual and significant (p<0.05) reduction was confirmed in both T₃ and sex steroids. The relative fold expression of caspase 2 revealed a significant (p<0.05) up-regulation in both yellow and atretic follicles though highest magnitude was evident on day 6. The expression pattern of Bcl-XL gene was inconsistent but yellow follicles represented highest magnitude compared to the atretic follicle. It could be concluded that stress induced activation of neuro-endocrine cascade could be the cause of altered level of metabolic hormones, sex streoids and the mRNA expression pattern in ovarian follicles which would be substantiated as the consequence of adaptive response.