Serotransferrin, ovotransferrin and metallothionein levels during an immune response in chickens.

Extracellular iron-binding proteins function in iron transport, iron scavenging and bactericidal activity. To determine whether the levels of chicken iron-binding proteins are altered during an immune challenge, young broiler chicks and 40-week-old hens were injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Serum transferrin and liver mRNA for serum transferrin increased at 24 hr after injection. Increased levels of serum transferrin and hepatic mRNA for serum transferrin define chicken serum transferrin as an acute-phase protein. Magnum mRNA for ovotransferrin decreased 24 hr after the immune challenge in hens. Hens had also stopped ovulating, suggesting that synthesis of all egg proteins was decreased.