Gut inflammation caused by various factors including microbial infection leads to disorder of absorption of dietary nutrients and decrease in egg production in laying hens. We hypothesized that intestinal inflammation may affect egg production in laying hens through its impact on liver function. Dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) is known to induce intestinal inflammation in mammals, but whether it also induces inflammation in laying hens is not known. The goal of this study was to assess whether oral administration of DSS is a useful model of intestinal inflammation in laying hens and to characterize the effects of intestinal inflammation on egg production using this model. White Leghorn hens (350-day old) were administrated with or without 0.9 g of DSS/kg BW in drinking water for 5 D (n = 8, each). All laid eggs were collected, and their whole and eggshell weights were recorded. Blood was collected every day and used for biochemical analysis. Liver and intestinal tissues (duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum, cecal-tonsil, and colon) were collected 1 D after the final treatment. These tissue samples were used for histological analysis and PCR analysis. Oral administration of DSS in laying hens caused 1) histological disintegration of the cecal mucosal epithelium and increased monocyte/macrophage infiltration and IL-1β, IL-6, CXCLi2, IL-10, and TGFβ-4 gene expression; 2) decreased egg production; 3) increased leukocyte infiltration and IL-1β, CXCLi2, and IL-10 expression in association with a high frequency of lipopolysaccharide-positive cells in the liver; and 4) decreased expression of genes related to lipid synthesis, lipoprotein uptake, and yolk precursor production. These results suggested that oral administration of DSS is a useful method for inducing intestinal inflammation in laying hens, and intestinal inflammation may reduce egg production by disrupting egg yolk precursor production in association with liver inflammation.

中文翻译：

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右旋糖酐硫酸钠引起的肠道炎症会引起蛋鸡肝脏炎症和脂质代谢异常。

由包括微生物感染在内的各种因素引起的肠道炎症会导致饮食营养物质的吸收紊乱，并降低蛋鸡的产蛋量。我们假设肠道炎症可能通过影响肝脏功能而影响蛋鸡的产蛋量。已知葡聚糖硫酸钠（DSS）会诱导哺乳动物的肠道炎症，但是尚不清楚它是否还会诱发蛋鸡的炎症。这项研究的目的是评估口服DSS是否是蛋鸡肠道炎症的有用模型，并使用该模型来表征肠道炎症对产蛋的影响。在水中添加或不添加0.9克DSS /千克体重的白色来亨鸡母鸡（350天大），持续5天（n = 8）。收集所有下蛋，并记录它们的总重量和蛋壳重量。每天采集血液，用于生化分析。在最终治疗后1 D，收集肝和肠组织（十二指肠，空肠，回肠，盲肠，盲肠扁桃体和结肠）。这些组织样品用于组织学分析和PCR分析。在母鸡中口服DSS引起1）盲肠粘膜上皮的组织学崩解和单核细胞/巨噬细胞浸润增加以及IL-1β，IL-6，CXCLi2，IL-10和TGFβ-4基因表达；2）产蛋量减少；3）与肝中脂多糖阳性细胞的高频率相关的白细胞浸润和IL-1β，CXCLi2和IL-10表达的增加；4）与脂质合成，脂蛋白摄取和蛋黄前体产生有关的基因表达降低。