Summer season induced heat stress impact on the expression patterns of different toll-like receptor genes in Malabari goats

Abstract

The study was conducted with the primary objective of establishing the impact of heat stress on the expression pattern of different toll-like-receptors (TLRs) in Malabari goats. The study was conducted for a period of 45 days using twelve Malabari goats. The goats were randomly allocated into two groups: MC (n = 6; Malabari control) and MHS (n = 6; Malabari heat stress). At the end of study, all 12 animals were slaughtered and their mesenteric lymph node (MLN) tissues were collected for gene expression. Heat stress significantly (p < 0.05) down regulated TLR1, TLR4, TLR5 and TLR6 and significantly increased (p < 0.05) TLR2 expression pattern. A negative correlation (p < 0.01) was also established between THI and different TLRs except TLR3, TLR7 and TLR10. The study indicated that TLR2 could serve as ideal immunological marker for establishing the superior thermo-tolerance ability of Malabari breed in terms of maintaining the immune status during heat stress challenges.

Keywords:

• Climate change
• goat
• heat stress
• immune response
• TLRs

Acknowledgements

The authors are more grateful to the Director, ICAR-National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology for providing the research facilities to complete this study. The authors also highly thankful to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for providing the funding for this research work.