Light plays important function in the regulation of reproduction in vertebrates including birds. The prolonged long day length exposure causes reproductively inactive state or photorefractoriness in many avian species including Japanese quail. Withania somnifera (WS) is a medicinal plant known to have beneficial effects on stress and infertility. The study investigates the physiological effect of WS on the light-induced stress in quail mediated by estrogen receptor alpha. Quails were exposed to long day length for three months and then transferred into intermediate day length to make them photorefractory (PR) while controls under natural day length. Administration of Withania somnifera root extract (WSRE) in PR quail induces estrogen and decreases corticosterone in male Japanese quail. Immunoreactivity of ERα decreased in testis of PR quail and increased after oral administration of WSRE compared to control. Expression of ir-Caspase-3 and ir-p53 in the testis increased in PR while decreased in PR + WS. Histologically, seminiferous tubules size decreased in PR whereas increased in PR + WS quails. Scanning electron microscopic study reveals sperms in clusters with proper head and tail in control. In PR quails sperms were few and distorted while WSRE improved the sperm morphology. From the study, it is concluded that during photorefractoriness gonadal regression occurs due to testicular apoptosis which causes stress. WSRE helps to overcome stress and improve reproductive performance via increase in expression of ir-ERα during PR condition. Further, the stress ameliorating effect of WSRE in reducing apoptosis mediated by ir-Caspase-3 and ir-p53 in the testes is clearly evident in Japanese quail.

光在调节包括鸟类在内的脊椎动物的繁殖中起重要作用。长时间的长时间暴露会导致包括日本鹌鹑在内的许多禽类的繁殖失活状态或光耐性。Withania somnifera（WS）是一种药用植物，已知对压力和不育症具有有益作用。该研究调查了WS对雌激素受体α介导的鹌鹑光诱导的应激的生理作用。将鹌鹑暴露于长日照中三个月，然后转移到中等日照中，使其在自然日照条件下处于光致难治性（PR）状态。行政睡茄PR鹌鹑中的根提取物（WSRE）诱导雌性雌激素并减少雄性日本鹌鹑中的皮质酮。与对照组相比，PR鹌鹑的睾丸中ERα的免疫反应性降低，而口服WSRE后ERα的免疫反应性增加。睾丸中ir-Caspase-3和ir-p53的表达在PR中升高，而在PR + WS中降低。组织学上，PR中生精小管的大小减少，而PR + WS鹌鹑则增加。扫描电子显微镜研究显示，精子成簇存在，头部和尾部处于受控状态。在PR鹌鹑中，精子很少且扭曲，而WSRE改善了精子的形态。从研究中得出的结论是，在光致顽固性过程中，性腺退化是由于引起压力的睾丸凋亡所致。WSRE通过增加PR条件下ir-ERα的表达来帮助克服压力并提高生殖能力。此外，在日本鹌鹑中，WSRE减轻了由ir-Caspase-3和ir-p53介导的凋亡的减轻应力的作用是显而易见的。