The gene IFIT1 is associated with dietary copper-induced yellow fat disease in sheep

In the process of rapid fattening and rearing of meat sheep, yellow fat disease of sheep occurs frequently. This study aims to investigate the preliminary pathogenesis of yellow fat disease in sheep. Eighteen healthy sheep (4–5 months old, 34 ± 1 kg) were selected and randomly divided into three groups: the 10 ppm copper group, the 50 ppm copper group, and the 100 ppm copper group. At the end of the experiment, blood, liver, kidney, and adipose tissue samples were taken from all sheep, and measurements of each index were taken. 50 and 100 ppm copper supplementation in the diets did not significantly affect average daily gain, total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and sorbitol dehydrogenase in sheep but significantly increased the effects on gamma-glutamyltransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase enzyme activities in the liver and increased the accumulation of copper in the liver. 50 and 100 ppm copper supplementation to the feed caused different levels of pathological damage to the liver, the kidney, and fat and significantly affected the brightness, redness, and yellowness of the carcass fat. Sheep in the 50 ppm copper group did not show significant clinical symptoms of yellow fat disease in the later period of the experiment, but those in the 100 ppm copper group showed significant clinical symptoms of yellow fat disease. Transcriptome analysis of sheep livers showed differential genes associated with yellow fat disease, and GO and KEGG analyses associated with yellow fat disease were performed, and further correlation analysis found that the occurrence of copper-induced yellow fat disease may be closely related to gene IFIT1.