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Lebedeva I.Yu., Mityashova O.S., Aleynikova O.V., Montvila E.K. The levels of pituitarythyroid axis hormones and their relationship with ovarial hormones during the ovulatory cycle of young laying hens (Gallus domesticus L.). Sel'skokhozyaistvennaya Biologiya [Agricultural Biology], 2024, Vol. 59, № 6, p. 1169-1178.
(how to cite this article)

doi: 10.15389/agrobiology.2024.6.1169eng

UDC: 636.5:591.1

Acknowledgements:
Supported financially by the Russian Science Foundation, project 22-16-00149

 

THE LEVELS OF PITUITARY-THYROID AXIS HORMONES AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH OVARIAL HORMONES DURING THE OVULATORY CYCLE OF YOUNG LAYING HENS (Gallus domesticus L.)

I.Yu. Lebedeva ✉, O.S. Mityashova, O.V. Aleynikova, E.K. Montvila

Ernst Federal Research Center for Animal Husbandry, 60, pos. Dubrovitsy, Podolsk District, Moscow Province, 142132 Russia, e-mail irledv@mai.ru (✉ corresponding author),mityashova_o@mail.ru, 68ovk@mail.ru, montvila94@bk.rupermbee@yandex.ru

ORCID:
Avdeev N.V. orcid.org/0000-0002-0320-9681

Final revision received March 14, 2022
Accepted July 07, 2022

The hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis is known to participate in the endocrine control of the ovarian function in mammals, but its role in regulating the development of ovarian structural components in birds is still unclear. The presence of thyroid receptors, deiodinases, and cellular transporters for thyroid hormones in the avian ovary indicates the functioning of pathways mediating the effects of thyroid hormones on ovarian follicles. The final stages of folliculogenesis in birds are closely associated with the ovulatory cycle, during which changes in the expression of various regulatory factors occur, leading to changes in the blood content of sex steroid hormones and the sensitivity of follicular cells to them. We have performed for the first time a comparative analysis of the levels of thyroid hormones and thyroid-stimulating hormone at different stages of the ovulatory cycle and characterized their association with the content of ovarian steroid hormones in the blood of the domestic hen (Gallus domesticus L.). The aim of current study was to investigate the possible involvement of hormones of the pituitary-thyroid axis in the physiological processes that control ovulation in laying hens. For the research, 15 White Hisex hens aged 27-28 weeks, continuously laying at least 7 eggs, were selected. Blood sampling was carried out at 1.5, 6.5, 11, 16 and 21 h after ovulation. In the blood plasma, the concentrations of total and free thyroxine (T4), total and free triiodothyronine (T3), reverse T3 (rT3), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), as well as progesterone, testosterone and estradiol-17β were determined using enzyme immunoassay. The concentration of total and free thyroxine (T4), total and free triiodothyronine (T3), reverse T3 (rT3), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), as well as progesterone, testosterone and estradiol-17β were determined in the blood plasma using enzyme immunoassay. Analysis of the blood content of sex steroid hormones in hens confirmed the presence of their preovulatory increase 21 h after the previous ovulation. In the birds studied, no significant changes in total T4 and total T3 levels occurred during the ovulatory cycle. However, 16-21 h after ovulation, the blood content of rT3 was 1.2-1.3 times lower (p < 0.001-0.05) than after 6.5-11 hours. The TSH level in the blood did not change between 1.5 and 11 hours after ovulation, and then it decreased by 1.1-1.2 times (p < 0.01-0.05). Nevertheless, the concentrations of free T4 and free T3 were relatively constant throughout the ovulatory cycle. During the preovulatory wave of sex hormones (after 21 h), a 1.5-fold (p < 0.05) increase in the T3/rT3 ratio was detected, compared to that in the period from 1.5 to 11 h after ovulation. Furthermore, a positive correlation was found between the concentration of total T3 in the blood and the content of progesterone (r = 0.415, p < 0.001) and testosterone (r = 0.503, p < 0.001), which are associated with the ovulation process in hens. The correlation analysis suggests a weak to moderate relationship between the thyroid and reproductive systems in birds. In general, the data obtained indicate that during the preovulatory peak of sex steroid hormones in laying hens, a change in the balance of hormones of the pituitary-thyroid axis occurs, which may lead to modulation of their effect on the ovary immediately before ovulation.

Keywords: laying hens, ovulatory cycle, sex steroid hormones, pituitary-thyroid axis, triiodothyronine.

 

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