The enzyme 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) plays an important role in androstenone metabolism in pig liver, and its defective expression is related to the development of boar taint. Early age castration is a common practice in many countries to avoid boar taint, yet whether and how castration affects porcine hepatic 3β-HSD expression are still poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to compare the expression of 3β-HSD between intact (boars) and castrated (barrows) male pigs, and to explore the potential factors regulating 3β-HSD transcription. Compared to barrows, boars showed worse carcass quality. Boars had significantly higher levels of serum androstenone (P < 0.01), testosterone (P < 0.01) and hepatic cortisol (P < 0.05), which were contrary to significantly lower expression of 3β-HSD messenger RNA (P < 0.01) and protein (P < 0.01) in the liver. Significant differences were detected for the hepatic expression of androgen receptor (AR) and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein β (C/EBPβ). Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay demonstrated reduced histone H3 acetylation (P < 0.05) but increased glucocorticoid receptor (GR) binding to 3β-HSD gene promoter in boars (P < 0.05). These results indicate that GR binding to 3β-HSD promoter is involved in the differential hepatic 3β-HSD expression between boars and barrows.

中文翻译：

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糖皮质激素受体参与了公猪和公猪最终阶段肝3β-羟类固醇脱氢酶的差异表达。

3β-羟类固醇脱氢酶（3β-HSD）在猪肝中雄烯酮的代谢中起重要作用，其缺陷表达与公猪异味的发生有关。在许多国家，早期去势是避免公猪异味的一种常见做法，但是去势是否以及如何影响猪肝3β-HSD表达仍知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们旨在比较完整的（公猪）和去势的（公猪）公猪中3β-HSD的表达，并探讨调节3β-HSD转录的潜在因素。与公猪相比，公猪的car体质量较差。公猪的血清雄甾烯酮（P <0.01），睾丸激素（P <0.01）和肝皮质醇（P <0.05）显着较高，这与3β-HSD信使RNA的表达显着较低（P <0）相反。01）和肝脏中的蛋白质（P <0.01）。检测到雄激素受体（AR）和CCAAT /增强子结合蛋白β（C /EBPβ）的肝表达有显着差异。染色质免疫沉淀（ChIP）分析表明，公猪组蛋白H3乙酰化减少（P <0.05），而糖皮质激素受体（GR）与3β-HSD基因启动子的结合增加（P <0.05）。这些结果表明，与3β-HSD启动子结合的GR参与了公猪和公猪之间肝脏3β-HSD差异表达。05），但公猪中糖皮质激素受体（GR）与3β-HSD基因启动子的结合增加（P <0.05）。这些结果表明，与3β-HSD启动子结合的GR参与了公猪和公猪之间肝脏3β-HSD差异表达。05），但公猪中糖皮质激素受体（GR）与3β-HSD基因启动子的结合增加（P <0.05）。这些结果表明，与3β-HSD启动子结合的GR参与了公猪和公猪之间肝脏3β-HSD差异表达。