Expression analysis of trypsin gene in pancreatic tissue of broiler chicken fed diets containing oak acorn

Recently, the significance of oak as an alternative feed for corn replacement in chicken diets is well documented. However, this feed contains antinutrien factor called tannin that has limited use of this feed in the poultry diets. One of these restrictions is combination of tannins with diets proteins that lead to disturbance in function of digestive enzymes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the expression of trypsin gene in the pancreas tissue of broiler chicken fed tannin containing oak diets. In this experiment, three diets (control, 15% and 20% oak) were fed to broilers from 1 to 42 days of age. On days 21 and 42, total RNA extracted from pancreatic tissue of 36 broiler chicken (18 for each time, 6 for each treatment). To study of gene expression, the trypsin expression was compared with β-actin gene as a reference gene. For gene expression analysis, the REST, V2.0.13 2009 software was used. No significant association was found between pancreases relative weight and different treatments on day 21, but the relation between the relative weight of pancreases and diets on day 42 was significant for 20 percent of oak acorn. The mRNA expression level of trypsin gene was significantly higher in the 20 percent of oak acorn on day 21, but their differences were not significant in compared to control diet on day 42. In addition, significant correlation was found between gene expression of trypsin and relative weight of pancreases on day 42.