Effects of Monochromatic Light on Developmental Changes in Satellite Cell Population of Pectoral Muscle in Broilers During Early Posthatch Period

To investigate the effects of various monochromatic lights on early posthatch changes in satellite cell mitotic activity of pectoral muscle, a total of 416 newly hatched broilers were exposed to blue light (BL), green light (GL), red light (RL), and white light (WL) by light emitting diode system for 3 weeks, respectively. Both, in culture and in vivo studies showed that after hatching, the relative number of satellite cells altered in correlation. The enhancement of satellite cell mitotic activity peaked at post-hatching day (P) 3 and then declined with age concomitantly with the rise in satellite cell differentiation and reduction of satellite cell proliferation. These alterations became more obvious in GL than in RL. The data suggested that early posthatch changes in satellite cell population of broilers occurred through the two different processes, i.e., cellular generation (before P3) and cellular degeneration (after P3). GL promoted significantly the broiler satellite cells to proliferate before P3 and to differentiate after P3. In addition, the circulating insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) levels were higher in GL and BL groups versus WL and RL groups at P3 and P5 indicating that IGF-I plays a central role for GL illumination promoting broiler satellite cell myogenic processes during early posthatch stages. Anat Rec, 293:1315-1324, 2010. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.