{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T17:33:32Z","timestamp":1788543212270,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,27]],"date-time":"2020-02-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1582761600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Initial Scientific Research Foundation for Talents of Anhui Science &amp; Technology University","award":["No. DKYJ201801"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["No. DKYJ201801"]}]},{"name":"Natural Science Foundation of Anhui","award":["No.1908085QC145"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["No.1908085QC145"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["31702306"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["31702306"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Heat stress (HS) causes testicular injury, resulting in decreased fertility. Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is a well-known antioxidant. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effects of ALA on HS-induced testicular damage in chickens. Histological changes; biomarkers of oxidative stress, including glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and malondialdehyde (MDA); markers of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, including glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) and CCAAT\/enhancer binding protein homologous protein (CHOP); apoptosis-related modulators, including Bax, Bcl-2, and caspase 3, in testicular tissue and serum testosterone levels were evaluated in chickens under heat stress. Heat stress induces spermatogenic cell abnormalities in chicken testes. Compared to the HS group, the histomorphological abnormalities in testicular tissue were visibly ameliorated, with significant increases in the enzyme activities of GPx, SOD, and CAT, increased serum testosterone concentration, and decreased MDA levels in the ALA + HS group. Consistent with these results, compared with the HS group, the protein levels of GRP78, CHOP, caspase 3, and Bax were significantly decreased, whereas Bcl-2, StAR, and 3\u03b2-HSD protein levels were increased in the ALA + HS group. Collectively, these findings suggest that ALA significantly ameliorates the heat-induced histomorphological abnormalities in the testes and decreased testosterone production by potentiating the activities of anti-oxidative enzymes (GPx, SOD, and CAT), inhibiting ER stress-related apoptotic pathways (Bax, Bcl-2, and caspase 3), and increasing steroidogenic gene (StAR and 3\u03b2-HSD) expression in chickens.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani10030384","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,2]],"date-time":"2020-03-02T07:35:30Z","timestamp":1583134530000},"page":"384","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":43,"title":["Oxidative Stress and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Are Involved in the Protective Effect of Alpha Lipoic Acid Against Heat Damage in Chicken Testes"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3141-0673","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yongjie","family":"Xiong","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science, Anhui Science and Technology University, Fengyang 233100, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of the Quality and Safety Control for Pork of the Ministry of Agriculture, Anhui Science and Technology University, Fengyang 233100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qirun","family":"Yin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science, Anhui Science and Technology University, Fengyang 233100, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of the Quality and Safety Control for Pork of the Ministry of Agriculture, Anhui Science and Technology University, Fengyang 233100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jing","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science, Anhui Science and Technology University, Fengyang 233100, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of the Quality and Safety Control for Pork of the Ministry of Agriculture, Anhui Science and Technology University, Fengyang 233100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shaojun","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science, Anhui Science and Technology University, Fengyang 233100, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of the Quality and Safety Control for Pork of the Ministry of Agriculture, Anhui Science and Technology University, Fengyang 233100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"108025","article-title":"Effects of heat stress on animal physiology, metabolism, and meat quality: A review","volume":"162","author":"Chauhan","year":"2019","journal-title":"Meat Sci."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"177","DOI":"10.1016\/j.theriogenology.2019.03.040","article-title":"Hyperthermia is more important than hypoxia as a cause of disrupted spermatogenesis and abnormal sperm","volume":"131","author":"Kastelic","year":"2019","journal-title":"Theriogenology"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1444","DOI":"10.1002\/mrd.23268","article-title":"Short-term heat stress impairs testicular functions in the American oyster, Crassostrea virginica: Molecular mechanisms and induction of oxidative stress and apoptosis in spermatogenic cells","volume":"86","author":"Nash","year":"2019","journal-title":"Mol. 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