Effects of Cyclic High Ambient Temperature on Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle Intermediates and Orotate Levels in the Liver and Breast Muscle of Broiler Chickens.
Katafuchi Ayumi A, Shimamoto Saki S, Tomonaga Shozo S, Kamimura Miyu M et al.
Heat stress alters tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle metabolism in broiler chickens; however, quantitative changes in TCA cycle-related metabolites remain poorly understood. This study determined the effects of heat exposure on TCA cycle intermediate (citrate, isocitrate, α-ketoglutarate, succinate, fumarate, and malate) and orotate levels in the liver and breast muscle of broiler chickens. Twelve 14-day-old male broiler chickens were assigned to either a control group (25 ± 1 °C) or a cyclic high ambient temperature group (35 ± 1 °C for 8 h/day) and reared under these conditions for 4 days. Heat exposure increased liver levels of citrate, α-ketoglutarate, fumarate, and malate, while decreasing succinate and orotate. Heat exposure also decreased the mRNA expression of isocitrate dehydrogenase 3A (IDH3A) and oxoglutarate dehydrogenase, key TCA cycle regulatory enzymes, as well as dihydroorotate dehydrogenase and ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase Rieske iron-sulfur protein 1 (UQCRFS1), which are involved in mitochondrial electron transport. Heat exposure increased breast muscle levels of succinate, fumarate, and malate, while reducing IDH3A and UQCRFS1 mRNA expression. These findings suggest that heat exposure impairs TCA cycle metabolism in broiler chickens, possibly by reducing the utilization of TCA cycle intermediates through impaired electron transfer in mitochondrial complex III.