Heat Stress Decreased Hair Follicle Population in Rex Rabbits
December 2018
in “
Journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition
”
hair follicle heat stress noggin insulin-like growth factor 1 IGF-1 receptor phosphorylated mechanistic target of rapamycin mTOR bone morphogenetic protein 2 BMP2 bone morphogenetic protein 4 BMP4 alkaline phosphatase versican hepatocyte growth factor noggin-BMP IGF-1 signalling pathway mTOR signalling pathway IGF-1 IGF-1 pathway mTOR pathway
TLDR Heat stress reduced hair growth and affected related genes in rex rabbits.
The study investigated the impact of heat stress on hair follicle population and related signaling pathways in rex rabbits. Forty-eight rabbits were divided into two groups: one exposed to high ambient temperature (32 ± 2°C) and the other to normal temperature (20 ± 2°C). Results indicated that heat stress significantly reduced body weight gain, feed conversion rate, hair length, and hair follicle density (p < 0.05). It also suppressed the expression of noggin, IGF-1, IGF-1 receptor, and phosphorylated mTOR proteins, while increasing BMP2 and BMP4 gene expression (p < 0.05). The study concluded that noggin-BMP, IGF-1, and mTOR signaling pathways might be involved in heat stress-induced repression of hair follicle development.
