Exposure of people and animals to
arsenic (As) is a global public health concern because As is widely distributed and associated with numerous adverse effects. As is a poisonous
metalloid and
arsenic trioxide (
As2O3) is a form of As. Thus far, there have been very few reports on the inflammatory factor alterations of the gastrointestinal tract in birds exposed to
As2O3. To investigate the possible correlation of
As2O3 with inflammatory injury induced by an
arsenic-supplemented diet in birds, 72 1-day-old male Hy-line cocks were selected and randomly divided into four groups. They were fed with either a commercial diet or an
arsenic-supplemented diet containing 7.5, 15, and 30 mg/kg
As2O3. The experiment lasted for 90 days, and samples of gizzard, glandular stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum, and rectum were collected at days 30, 60, and 90 of the experiment period. The
inflammation-related genes were determined, including NF-κB, iNOS, COX-2, PTGEs, and TNF-α. The connection between
arsenic dosage and
inflammation-related genes was assessed. The content of inducible
NO synthase (iNOS) was measured by Western blot of the samples. The results showed that
arsenic supplementation increased the
mRNA expression levels of
inflammation-related genes in the gastrointestinal tract of cocks at different time points (p < 0.05). Moreover, the expression of the tissue and organ injury-related gene iNOS was upregulated (p < 0.05). These data suggest that As induces the inflammatory response and may trigger digestive function regression of the gastrointestinal tract by affecting
inflammation-related genes and iNOS in cocks. This study offers some information on the mechanism of gastrointestinal tract inflammatory injury and iNOS expression level alterations induced by arseniasis.