De-Bing  Li, Chao  Li, Shan-Shan  Shao, Gong-Wei  Zhang, Yong  Tang, Ding-Gang  Zhou, Xue-Wei  Li, 
    Effects of Dietary Vitamin D<SUB>3</SUB> on <I>MHC-II-&#946;</I> Gene Expression 
  in Immune Tissues of <I>Monopterus albus</I>,
    Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances,
    Volume 12,Issue 2,
    2013,
    Pages 215-220,
    ISSN 1680-5593,
    javaa.2013.215.220,
    (https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=javaa.2013.215.220)
    Abstract: To investigate the effects of dietary Vitamin D<SUB>3</SUB> 
  (VD<SUB>3</SUB>) on <I>MHC-II-&#946;</I> gene expression in <I>Monopterus albus</I> 
  (<I>M. albus</I>). A total of 540 healthy <I>M. albus</I> (weigh, 21.7&plusmn;2.1 
  g) were randomly assigned to six groups (3 replicates per group, 30 <I>M. albus</I> 
  per replicate) and fed with dietary VD<SUB>3</SUB> at various concentrations 
  (0 (control), 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000 and 4,000 IU kg<SUP>-1</SUP>). After 20, 
  40 and 60 days of feeding, researchers randomly selected six <I>M. albus</I> 
  from each group and collected tissues (hepatopancreas, spleen, head kidney and 
  hindgut) for detection of <I>MHC-II-&#946;</I> gene expression using real-time 
  quantitative PCR. MHC-II-&#946; was expressed in four tissues with expression 
  in the head kidney significantly higher (p&lt;0.01) than that in the spleen, 
  hindgut and hepatopancreas. At 20 days, the highest MHC-II-&#946; expression 
  was detected in the 4,000 IU kg<SUP>-1</SUP> group in the head kidney and in 
  the 2,000 IU kg<SUP>-1</SUP> group in the spleen, both of which were significantly 
  higher than that of the other groups (p&lt;0.05). At 40 days, the 1000 IU kg<SUP>-1</SUP> 
  group showed the highest MHC-II-&#946; expression in the head kidney, hindgut 
  and hepatopancreas. At 60 days, the 500 IU kg<SUP>-1</SUP> group showed the 
  highest MHC-II-&#946; expression in the head kidney and spleen and was significant 
  higher than that of the control (p&lt;0.05) while the 4,000 IU kg<SUP>-1</SUP> 
  group showed significantly lower MHC-II-&#946; expression compared to the control 
  (p&lt;0.05). Relative to the MHC-II-&#946; expression in the head kidney, the 
  results demonstrate that short-term (20 days) and high dose dietary provision 
  of VD<SUB>3</SUB> (4,000 IU kg<SUP>-1</SUP>) significantly increased MHC-II-&#946; 
  expression in <I>M. albus</I> immune organs. However, the highest MHC-II-&#946; 
  expression was observed with long-term (60 days) dietary provision of VD<SUB>3</SUB> 
  at a dose of 500 IU kg<SUP>-1</SUP>.
    Keywords: Monopterus albus;vitamin D3;MHC-II-b gene;dose;head