Long-term music stimulating alleviated the inflammatory responses caused by acute noise stress on the immune organs of broilers by NF-κB signaling pathway.

ABSTRACT

As an environmental enrichment, music can positively influence the immune function, while noise has an adverse effect on the physical and mental health of humans and animals. However, whether music-enriched environments mitigate noise-induced acute stress remains unclear. To investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of music on the immune organs of broiler chickens under conditions of early-life acute noise stress, 140 one-day-old white feather broilers (AA) were randomly divided into four groups control (C), the music stimulation (M) group, the acute noise stimulation (N) group, the acute noise stimulation followed by music (NM) group. At 14 days of age, the N and NM groups received 120 dB noise stimulation for 10 min for one week. After acute noise stimulation, the NM group and M group were subjected to continuous music stimulation for 14 days (6 h per day, 60 dB). At 28 days of age, the body temperature of the chicks, the histopathological changes, quantification of ROS-positive density and apoptosis positivity in tissues of spleen, thymus, and bursa of Fabricius (BF) were measured. The results showed that acute noise stimulation led to an increase in the number and area of splenic microsomes and the cortex/medulla ratio of the detected immune organs. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) of immune tissues of broilers in N group were decreased compared to the broilers in C group, while the mRNA levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), TNF-α, IL-1, and IL-1ß increased. In addition, the gene and protein expression levels of IKK, NF-κB, and IFN-γ of three immune organs from broilers in the N group were increased. Compared to the C and N group, chickens from the NM group showed a decrease in the number and area of splenic follicles, an increase in the activities of SOD and GSH-Px, and a decrease in the expression levels of MDA, TNF-α, IL-1, and IL-1ß. Therefore, a music-enriched environment can attenuate oxidative stress induced by acute noise stimulation, inhibiting the activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway and consequently alleviating the inflammatory response in immune organs.