Ontogeny of ghrelin mRNA expression and identification of ghrelin-immunopositive cells in the gastrointestinal tract of the Peking duck, Anas platyrhynchos.

Ghrelin is an acylated peptide and an endogenous ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R), and stimulates growth hormone release and food intake in mammals. Peking duck is a very fast growing species of poultry. Although the sequence and structure of ghrelin have recently been determined, the expression of ghrelin in Peking duck has not been studied. Here, we investigated the tissue expression and distribution of ghrelin by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, respectively, in Peking duck at different stages of development. Ghrelin mRNA expression was mainly detected in the proventriculus and proventriculus-gizzard junction. It was first expressed, but weakly, on embryonic day 14 (E14); the expression increased by embryonic day 21 (E21), and was maintained at high levels between post-hatching-day 1 (P1) and post-hatching-day 60 (P60). Weak expression of ghrelin mRNA was also found in the gizzard and duodenum. In the gastrointestinal tract of growing Peking duck in P60, the largest number of ghrelin-ip cells was detected in the epithelium of the compound tubular glands in the proventriculus and the next largest number was in the proventriculus-gizzard junction. Very few ghrelin-ip cells were located in the epithelium of the simple tubular glands adjacent to the gizzard. No ghrelin-ip cells were observed elsewhere in the gastrointestinal tract. Ghrelin-ip cells were found in embryos as early as day E21; at the same time, the compound tubular glands in the proventriculus had formed. The numbers of ghrelin-ip cells on P1 were similar to those of E21 embryos. However, on P60, high numbers of strongly stained ghrelin-ip cells were found to be scattered in the epithelium of the compound tubular glands in the proventriculus. The density of ghrelin-ip cells (cells/mm(2)) in the proventriculus on P60 was significantly greater than those of P1 and E21 embryos. These results demonstrate that ghrelin is expressed in the Peking duck gastrointestinal tract, especially in the proventriculus, from mid-late-stage embryos to growing period and suggested an involvement of ghrelin in the development and biology of the gastrointestinal tract of the Peking duck.