Heavy metal pollution is an important environmental issue causing several hazards to organisms. In the present study, we investigated the uptake and accumulation of heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn) in chicken lungs after six months of breeding on polymetallic-contaminated area in Jebel Ressas village. Genotoxicity in term of micronuclei frequency as well as oxidative stress in term of enzymatic activities of Catalase (CAT), Glutathion-S-Transferase (GST) and malondialdehydes accumulation (MDA) were performed. In addition, gene expression levels involved in oxidative stress genes (cat, sod and gst), metal homeostasis (mt1 and mt4) and DNA metabolism (p53, bcl2, caspase 3 and DNA ligase) were detected. Exposed chicken lungs revealed an important heavy metal accumulation of Cd and Zn co-occurring with oxidative status modulation. Transcriptomic results unveiled an upregulation of oxidative stress and homeostasis genes. On the other hand, genes involved in DNA metabolism indicated cellular functioning towards cells death and apoptosis modulation. Moreover, the histopathological examination revealed lung lesions in the chickens exposed to heavy metal contamination. Our study highlights the hazardous effects of heavy metal pollution on chicken respiratory system.
Keywords: Chicken; Gene expression level; Genotoxicity; Heavy metal; Oxidative stress.
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