Exogenous insulin promotes the expression of B-cell translocation gene 1 and 2 in chicken pectoralis

B-cell translocation genes (BTG) have been proved to play important roles in carbohydrate metabolism through modifying insulin homeostasis and glucose metabolism. This study, therefore, was conducted to investigate the effects of exogenous insulin on the expression of BTG1 and BTG2 in chickens. Twenty-four-day-old broilers and layers were fasted for 16 h and randomly assigned to insulin treatment group (subcutaneously injected with 5 IU/kg body weight) or control group (received an equivalent volume of phosphate-buffered saline). Blood glucose concentration was measured, and it showed that the blood glucose concentrations in the layers were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that in the broilers under fasting state. Response to exogenous insulin, the blood glucose concentrations were greatly reduced in both breeds. Of note, the blood glucose concentration restored to 62% of the basal state at 240 min (P < 0.05) after insulin stimulation in layers, whereas it was still in low level until 240 min in broilers (under fast state). Tissue profiling revealed that both BTG1 and BTG2 were abundantly expressed in the skeletal muscles of broilers. A negative correlation was observed between blood glucose and BTG1 (ρ = −0.289, P = 0.031) /BTG2 (ρ = −0.500, P < 0.001) in pectoralis, and BTG1 (ρ = −0.462, P < 0.001) in pancreas. As blood glucose decreased due to exogenous insulin administration (under fast state), the expression of both BTG1 and BTG2 notably upregulated in birds’ pectoralis at 120 min and/or 240 min, meanwhile pancreas BTG1 was also upregulated. Re-feeding at 120 min elevated the blood glucose and reduced the expression of BTG genes in pectoralis generally. In addition, the change of BTG1 and BTG2 expression showed distinct difference between layers and broilers at 120 min and 240 min after insulin stimulation in pectoralis, pancreas and heart tissue; even after re-feeding at 120 min, BTG2 expression at 240 min after insulin injection was downregulated in the pectoralis of layers, while it was upregulated in that broilers. Collectively, these results indicated that response to exogenous insulin, chicken blood glucose exhibited breed-specific dynamic change, and meanwhile the expressions of both BTG1 and BTG2 genes in chickens were significantly altered by exogenous insulin in a breed- and tissue-specific manner. BTG1 and BTG2 genes may negatively regulate bird's blood glucose by promoting the glucose uptake corporately in pectoralis, and through regulating the insulin secretion in pancreas (especially BTG1).