Comparative analysis of respiratory metabolism, blood physiology, antioxidant capacity, and hypoxia-related gene expression in Snowy White chickens raised at high and low altitudes

作者：Junyang Liu, Felix Kwame Amevor, Ke Qi, Jing Feng, Lili Xian, Zang Lei, Leilei Peng, Dan Xu, Gang Shu, Yingjie Wang, Liuting Wu, Yan Wang, Xiaoling Zhao · 发表于：Poultry Science · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.psj.2025.105378 · 被引用次数：5 · 研究领域：High Altitude and Hypoxia、Adipose Tissue and Metabolism、Physiological and biochemical adaptations

Understanding the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying altitude adaptation is critical for optimizing poultry health and performance in diverse environments. This study comparatively evaluated the respiratory metabolism, hematological profiles, antioxidant capacity, immune status, and hypoxia-related gene expression in Snowy White chickens raised at contrasting altitudes. A total of 380 chickens from a low-altitude region (Sichuan) and 550 from a high-altitude region (Tibet) were reared under standardized dietary and management conditions. The results should that key indicators of anaerobic metabolism, including serum lactate and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels, were significantly elevated in high-altitude chickens, indicating greater reliance on glycolysis under hypoxic stress (P < 0.05). Hematological analysis revealed significantly increased red blood cell (RBC) count, hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin in high-altitude birds (P < 0.05), while mean corpuscular volume (MCV) was higher in low-altitude chickens (P < 0.05), reflecting divergent strategies in oxygen transport efficiency. Oxidative stress markers showed that high-altitude chickens had elevated malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, indicating increased lipid peroxidation, whereas low-altitude chickens demonstrated superior antioxidant defense, with significantly higher total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activity (P < 0.05). In addit...