Study potential cardiac implications of wooden breast disease in chickens

Wooden breast disease is a myopathy of the skeletal muscle in chickens of commercial breeding. Underlying pathophysiology remains unknown, but other myopathy conditions also affect the cardiac muscle and are associated with fibrosis and reduced cardiac function. To determine potential cardiac implications of wooden breast disease and identify whether molecular and fibrotic changes were similar to what we have previously found in the breast, we have investigated the hearts of commercial Ross 308 broilers.