Astragalus Polysaccharide Protects Against Cadmium-Induced Autophagy Injury Through Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Pathway in Chicken Embryo Fibroblast.

Cadmium (Cd) is a harmful heavy metal pollutant, which can cause oxidative stress in the body and induce cell damage. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a general term for substances that contain oxygen and are active in the body. However, excessive ROS can damage the body. Cadmium poisoning can cause a large amount of ROS in cells and autophagy. Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) is a plant polysaccharide with biological functions, such as antioxidant and anti-stress activities. In this study, chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF) were used to determine the relationship between ROS and autophagy damage of Cd-infected cells and the mechanism of APS on cadmium-induced autophagy damage. The results showed that a 10-µL dose of 10 µmol/L cadmium chloride (CdCl2) can induce CEF autophagy and damage when CEF was added for 36 h. Cadmium induced CEF autophagy damage by increasing ROS production. APS could significantly reduce ROS production and LC3-II and Beclin-1 protein expression, increase the expression of mTOR and the level of antioxidation, and restore the viability and morphological damage of CEF exposed to Cd. Our study suggests that APS can alleviate Cd-induced CEF autophagy damage by reducing the production of ROS.

Metabonomic analysis of hypophosphatemic laying fatigue syndrome in laying hens.

Laying fatigue syndrome (LFS) is a common disease in poultry, which is characterized by low egg laying rate, increased broken and soft shell egg rate and osteoporosis, and even death of poultry. Insufficient phosphorus content in feed is one of the major causes of LFS. In this study, a total of 22-week-old Roman white shell hens were randomly divided into two groups, including control (group C) and low dietary phosphorus (group P) groups. The hens of groups C and P were fed with a full mixed diet and a mixed diet containing 0.18% available phosphorus content, respectively. At 25, 29 and 34 weeks, the production performance of hens was detected and the serum samples of hens were collected to detect the changes of serum phosphorus, calcium, osteopelectin (OPG), parathyroid hormone (PTH), estradiol (E2), tartaric acid-resistant phosphatase (TRACP) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). The keels were removed and x-rayed. In addition, all serum samples were tested by LC-MS metabolomics. Our results showed that low dietary phosphorus decreased the production performance, phosphorus content, and E2 and OPG levels, while increased calcium and PTH levels, and ALP and TRACP activities in laying hens. The hens of group P had bent keels. Besides, small molecular metabolites in serum were enriched in 10 pathways and 17 metabolites were significantly different according to the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) analysis. Our results showed that low phosphorus diet could induce LFS. Also, 17 metabolites detected by metabonomics can be used as biomarkers for clinical diagnosis and early warning of hypophosphatemic laying fatigue syndrome (HLFS). This study provides a scientific basis for the early prevention and treatment of HLFS.