A study was conducted to examine the effects of different oils on the plasma corticosterone concentrations of broiler chickens fed ad libitum or deprived of feed for 24 hours. A total of 36 Ross broilers were randomly assigned to one of three dietary treatments at 10 days of age and fed a grower diet supplemented with 60 g/kg soybean oil (rich in linoleic acid, C18:2n–6), linseed oil (rich in a-linolenic acid, C18:3n–3) or fish oil (rich in C14:0, C16:0, C16:1n–7, C20:1n–9; eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, EPA, C20:5n–3 and DHA, C22:6n–3), respectively, for 18 days. Dietary supplementation of fish oil resulted in lower (P < 0.05) baseline plasma corticosterone levels of chickens fed ad libitum for 18 days compared to soybean and linseed oil supplementations. Feed deprivation for 24 h induced a significant (P < 0.05) increase in corticosterone concentration in every treatment group compared to the ad libitum-fed birds. The hormone levels of feed-deprived birds did not differ significantly among groups fed diets supplemented with different oils.
Anderson, B. M. and Ma, D. W. (2009): Are all n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids created equal? Lipids in Health and Disease 8, 33.
Association of Official Analytical Chemists (1990 a): Fat (crude) or ether extract in animal feed (920.39). In: Helrich, K. (ed.) Official Methods of Analysis. AOAC, Arlington, VA. p. 79.
Association of Official Analytical Chemists (1990 b): Fatty acids in oils and fats. Preparation of methyl esters. Esterification in presence of sulfuric acid (965.49). In: Helrich, K. (ed.) Official Methods of Analysis. AOAC, Arlington, VA. p. 963.
Aviagen Broiler Breeders (2009): Ross Broiler Management Manual. Aviagen Group, Midlothian, Scotland. pp. 1–114.
Beuving, G. and Vonder, G. M. (1978): Effect of stressing factors on corticosterone levels in the plasma of laying hens. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 35, 153–159.
Calder, P. C. (2012): Mechanisms of action of (n-3) fatty acids. J. Nutr. 142, 592S–599S.
Carsia, R. V., Weber, H., McIlroy, P. J. and Hock, C. E. (2008): Long-term dietary lipid regimen alters adrenocortical function at the cellular level. Horm. Metab. Res. 40, 848–853.
Crespo, N. and Esteve-Garcia, E. (2003): Polyunsaturated fatty acids reduce insulin and very low density lipoprotein levels in broiler chickens. Poultry Sci. 82, 1134–1139.
Di Nunzio, M., Danesi, F. and Bordoni, A. (2009): N-3 PUFA as regulators of cardiac gene transcription: a new link between PPAR activation and fatty acid composition. Lipids 44, 1073–1079.
Gonzales, E., Kondo, N., Saldanha, E. S., Loddy, M. M., Careghi, C. and Decuypere, E. (2003): Performance and physiological parameters of broiler chickens subjected to fasting on the neonatal period. Poultry Sci. 82, 1250–1256.
Gregory, M. K., Geier, M. S., Gibson, R. A. and James, M. J. (2013): Functional characterization of the chicken fatty acid elongases. J. Nutr. 143, 12–16.
Jiang, L. H., Liang, Q. Y. and Shi, Y. (2012): Pure docosahexaenoic acid can improve depression behaviour and affect HPA axis in mice. Eur. Rev. Med. Pharmacol. Sci. 16, 1765–1773.
Kitaysky, A. S., Kitaiskaia, E. V., Wingfield, J. C. and Piatt, J. F. (2001): Dietary restriction causes chronic elevation of corticosterone and enhances stress response in red-legged kittiwake chicks. J. Comp. Physiol. B 171, 701–709.
Kocsis, J. F., Rinkardt, N. E., Satterlee, D. G., Weber, H. and Carsia, R. V. (1999): Concentrationdependent, biphasic effect of prostaglandins on avian corticosteroidogenesis in vitro. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 115, 132–142.
Lewis, R. A., Austen, K. F. and Soberman, R. J. (1990): Leukotrienes and other products of the 5- lipoxygenase pathway. Biochemistry and relation to pathobiology in human diseases. N. Eng. J. Med. 323, 645–655.
Liu, Y., Chen, F., Li, Q., Odle, J., Lin, X., Zhu, H., Pi, D., Hou, Y., Hong, Y. and Shi, H. (2013): Fish oil alleviates activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis associated with inhibition of TLR4 and NOD signaling pathways in weaned piglets after a lipopolysaccharide challenge. J. Nutr. 143, 1799–1807.
Oh, D. Y. and Olefsky, J. M. (2012): Omega 3 fatty acids and GPR120. Cell Metab. 15, 564–565.
Oh, Y. T., Kim, J., Kang, I. and Youn, J. H. (2014): Regulation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis by circulating free fatty acids in male Wistar rats: role of individual free fatty acids. Endocrinology 155, 923–931.
Peterson, L. D., Jeffery, N. M., Thies, F., Sanderson, P., Newsholme, E. A. and Calder, P. C. (1998): Eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids alter rat spleen leukocyte fatty acid composition and prostaglandin E2 production but have different effects on lymphocyte functions and cell-mediated immunity. Lipids 33, 171–180.
Scott, T. R., Satterlee, D. G. and Jacobs-Perry, L. A. (1983): Circulating corticosterone responses of feed and water deprived broilers and Japanese quail. Poultry Sci. 62, 290–297.
Serhan, C. N., Clish, C. B., Brannon, J., Colgan, S. P., Chiang, N. and Gronert, K. (2000): Novel functional sets of lipid-derived mediators with antiinflammatory actions generated from omega-3 fatty acids via cyclooxygenase 2-nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs and transcellular processing. J. Exp. Med. 192, 1197–1204.
Shaikh, S. R. (2012): Biophysical and biochemical mechanism by which dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids from fish oil disrupt membrane lipid rafts. J. Nutr. Biochem. 23, 101–105.
Shewchuk, B. M. (2014): Prostaglandins and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis. Prostaglandins Leukot. Essent. Fatty Acids 91, 277–287.
Simopoulos, A. P. (2003): Essential fatty acids in health and chronic diseases. Forum Nutr. 56, 67–70.
Storlien, L. H., Jenkins, A. B., Chisholm, D. J., Pascoe, W. S., Khi, S. and Kraegen, E. W. (1991): Influence of dietary fat composition on development of insulin resistance in rats. Diabetes 40, 280–289.
Thaxton, J. P. and Puvadolpirod, S. (2000): Model of physiological stress in chickens. 5. Quantitative evaluation. Poultry Sci. 79, 391–395.