Effect of cadmium on the expression of Fas and caspase-3 mRNA in chicken anterior pituitary
镉对鸡垂体Fas和caspase-3 mRNA表达的影响

The effect of cadmium chloride on cell apoptosis and the expressions of Fas and caspase-3 genes were explored in a hen model, Ninety normal Hyline white laying hens, aged 50 days, were randomly allocated to 3 groups of 30. The hens were fed 0 mg·kg-1 CdCl2 in the control group, 140 mg·kg-1 CdCl2 in the low-dosage cadmium group and 210 mg·kg-1CdCl2 in the high-dosage cadmium group. The anterior pituitary glands of the hens were removed after 20 d, 40 d and 60 d and the levels of cell apoptosis were detected by TUNEL and the expressions of Fas and caspase-3 genes were measured by RT-PCR. The results indicated that cadmium chloride can lead to apoptosis of pituicytes and overexpression of Fas and caspase-3 genes. At the same time point, cell apoptosis rates and gene expression showed variance (p<0.01) in both test groups compared with control and the low-dosage group changed greatly both the expression of Fas, caspase-3 mRNAand cell apoptosis rates. The data indicated that cadmium chloride could induce apoptosis of anterior pituitary cells. The expression of Fas and caspase-3 mRNAhave the same trend as apoptosis with the extension of time.