Peripheral regulation of food intake in chickens: adiposity signals, satiety signals and others

Abstract

SUMMARY Broiler chickens eat more feed and grow faster than layer chickens. However, hyperphagia-induced excessive accumulation of body fat in broiler chickens has become a serious problem in the modern poultry industry. Species specificity in terms of the physiological role of appetite-regulating hormones and neuropeptides can make it difficult to understand the mechanisms underlying the central regulation of food intake in chickens. Therefore, although the appetite regulatory system of chickens has been a focus of research in recent decades, the mechanisms underlying the hyperphagia of broiler chickens are not fully understood. Our previous studies demonstrated that peripheral hormones significantly suppress food intake in chicks. These findings suggest that postprandial elevation of peripheral anorexigenic hormones plays important roles in appetite regulation in chickens. This review provides an overview of recent findings on the role of peripheral hormones in the regulation of food intake in chickens and proposes the new insight of avian-species-specific system of peripheral regulation of food intake and promising strategies for reducing body fat mass in broiler chickens.