Insulin-induced hypoglycemia associations with gene expression changes in liver and hypothalamus of chickens from lines selected for low or high body weight

• LWS and HWS chicks differ in blood glucose responses to insulin.
• LWS express more hypothalamic NPY and receptor sub-types 2 and 5 mRNA than HWS.
• Hypothalamic POMC mRNA was greater in HWS than LWS.
• Insulin injection increased hypothalamic TPH2 mRNA.
• Insulin decreased and increased hepatic GLUT2 and GLUT1 mRNA, respectively.

Chickens selected for low (LWS) or high (HWS) body weight for more than 56 generations now have a 10-fold difference in body weight at 56 days of age and correlated responses in appetite and glucose regulation. The LWS chickens are lean and some are anorexic, while the HWS are compulsive feeders and have a different threshold sensitivity of food intake and blood glucose to both central and peripheral insulin, respectively. We previously demonstrated that at 90-days of age, insulin-induced hypoglycemia was associated with reduced glucose transporter expression in the liver of both lines, and differences in expression of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and NPY receptor sub-type genes between LWS and HWS in the hypothalamus. The objective of this study was to determine effects of insulin-induced hypoglycemia on gene expression in the hypothalamus and liver of early post-hatch LWS and HWS chicks. On day 5 post-hatch chicks from each line were fasted for 3 h and injected intraperitoneally with insulin or vehicle. At 1 h post-injection, chicks were euthanized, blood glucose was measured, and hypothalamus and liver were removed. Total RNA was isolated and real time PCR performed. Insulin injection was associated with a more pronounced reduction in blood glucose in HWS compared with LWS chicks (two-way interaction; P < 0.05). Aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase, NPY, and NPY receptor sub-types 2 and 5 mRNA quantities were greater in LWS than HWS chicks in the hypothalamus (P < 0.05), whereas pro-opiomelanocortin mRNA was greater in the hypothalamus of HWS than LWS (P < 0.05). In the liver, glucose transporter 1, 2 and 3 (GLUT 1, 2 and 3, respectively) mRNA abundance was greater in HWS than LWS chicks (P < 0.05). Compared to the vehicle, insulin treatment was associated with an increase in tryptophan hydroxylase 2 mRNA in the hypothalamus of both lines (P = 0.02). In the liver of both lines, insulin treatment was associated with decreased (P = 0.01) GLUT2 mRNA and increased (P = 0.01) GLUT1 mRNA, compared to vehicle-treated chicks. Results suggest that NPY-associated factors and glucose transporters are differentially-expressed between LWS and HWS chickens and that HWS chicks display greater sensitivity to exogenous insulin during the early post-hatch period.