{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T16:11:54Z","timestamp":1787069514261,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,17]],"date-time":"2025-09-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1758067200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Physiol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Immunity in chickens is age-dependent and develops gradually over time. The initial defense by the host is a crucial mechanism for combating microbial infections. Embryonic thermal manipulation (TM) represents a promising approach for sustainable broiler production. Our previous work provided significant insights into the effects of TM on embryonic thermotolerance, metabolism, growth performance, microbial diversity, and immunity. This follow-up study used a subset of hatchlings previously used in our TM-related studies. This study aims to investigate the effects of TM on immunity-related genes in the spleen, bursa, and thymus. A total of 600 fertile Cobb 500 eggs were incubated for 21 days. After candling, 238 eggs underwent TM at 38.5 \u00b0C from embryonic day (ED) 12\u201318, then transferred to a hatcher at 37.5 \u00b0C from ED 19 to 21, while 236 eggs were incubated at 37.5 \u00b0C throughout till 21 days. After hatching, 60-day-old unsexed chicks were housed in 12 pens (10 birds\/pen, 6 replicates per treatment). The treatments included 1) Control and 2) TM. All birds were raised under standard conditions for the first 21 days. In the spleen, at d 7, the TM group showed significantly lower expression of cytokines (\n                    <jats:italic>IL-10, IL-12, IL-18), TLRs<\/jats:italic>\n                    (\n                    <jats:italic>TLR-1, TLR-2A, TLR-4, TLR-21<\/jats:italic>\n                    ), and signaling markers (\n                    <jats:italic>TBK-1, CD-3, NF-\u03baB, TGF-\u03b2, TGF-\u03b23<\/jats:italic>\n                    ) compared to the Control. At d 21, TM birds exhibited significantly lower (\n                    <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\n                    &amp;lt; 0.05) expression of\n                    <jats:italic>IL-4, IL-6, IFN-\u03b3<\/jats:italic>\n                    , and\n                    <jats:italic>AvBD-6<\/jats:italic>\n                    , while\n                    <jats:italic>TLR-2A<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>TGF-\u03b23<\/jats:italic>\n                    were significantly upregulated compared to the Control group. In bursa, at d 7, the TM group showed significantly higher expression of\n                    <jats:italic>IL-1\u03b2, TLR-5, TLR-15, TLR-21, IFN-\u03b1,<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>NF-\u03baB<\/jats:italic>\n                    , while\n                    <jats:italic>IL-6<\/jats:italic>\n                    was significantly downregulated. At d 14,\n                    <jats:italic>IL-18<\/jats:italic>\n                    was significantly upregulated, and\n                    <jats:italic>TLR-21<\/jats:italic>\n                    was significantly downregulated in the TM group. At d 21,\n                    <jats:italic>IL8L1, IL-10, TLR-1,<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>CD-45<\/jats:italic>\n                    were significantly upregulated, whereas\n                    <jats:italic>NF-\u03baB<\/jats:italic>\n                    expression was significantly downregulated compared to the Control group. In the thymus, at d 14,\n                    <jats:italic>TLR15<\/jats:italic>\n                    was significantly higher, and at d 21,\n                    <jats:italic>IL-10<\/jats:italic>\n                    was significantly lower in the TM compared to the Control group. In conclusion, embryonic TM enhanced early immune gene expression in broilers by upregulating essential immune-related genes in the spleen, bursa, and thymus.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fphys.2025.1670073","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,17]],"date-time":"2025-09-17T05:43:25Z","timestamp":1758087805000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Embryonic thermal manipulation improved early immunity in broiler chickens"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Sadid Al","family":"Amaz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Suman","family":"Poudel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bal Krishna","family":"Pandey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Suresh","family":"Burlakoti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rajesh","family":"Jha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Birendra","family":"Mishra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"75","DOI":"10.1186\/s40104-024-01028-1","article-title":"Embryonic thermal manipulation: a potential strategy to mitigate heat stress in broiler chickens for sustainable poultry production","volume":"15","author":"Al Amaz","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. 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