EFFECT OF L-ASCORBIC ACID AND ALPHA-TOCOPHEROL ON OVARIAN REGRESSION, HORMONAL CHANGES AND GENE EXPRESSION IN JAPANESE QUAIL DURING STRESS

L-ascorbic acid (L-AA) and á-tocopherol (α-TP) facilitate the first line of defence and regulate neuroendocrine mechanism to optimize performance during stress but how molecular mechanism controls ovarian functions in birds are still unclear. In view of this fact, the study was aimed to appraise the effect of natural antioxidants on ovarian functions of Japanese quail during stress. One hundred and forty four Japanese quails (10weeks) were equally divided into four groups i.e. Gr I (control), Gr II (positive control), Gr III and IV (feed withdrawal). Birds from Gr II and IV received the L-AA and α-TP@250ppm each through drinking water and studied for a period of 10 days. Six birds were sacrificed each on 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 days and morphological changes were evaluated. Serum concentration of estrogen and progesterone were estimated using RIA protocol. The expression study of luteinizing hormone receptor (LHR) and progesterone hormone receptor (PHR) gene were carried out in ovary and follicles (F1 , F2 , F3 ) by Quantitative RT-PCR. The significant reduction in body weight and reproductive tracts' weight were observed in Gr III and IV though low severity was recorded in the later group. The concentration of both estrogen and progesterone hormones were significantly (P<0.05) lowered with the study period. The expression study revealed a significant (P<0.05) down regulation of LHR and PHR gene in hierarchial follicles and the magnitude of fold expression was moderate in Gr IV. This study concludes that supplementation of L-AA and á-TP may counteract the negative impact of stress in ovarian functions and long term treatment would synchronize better neuro-endocrine and molecular mechanism in Japanese quail.