EN
Distribution and expression of the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR) in different breeds and tissues of pigs were studied by means of immunohistochemical and RT-PCR methods.Three Huai and three Landrace pigs each were individually housed at the Fujian Shanghang Huai pig breeding farm under similar feeding conditions. Pigs were humanely slaughtered at saleable weight and samples of kidney, liver and skeletal muscle were collected for expression analyses.HMGR mRNA expressions in liver, muscle and kidney of Huai pigs both occurred higher than expression found in the Landrace. Positive staining of HMGR protein was revealed in the three tissues considered. The HMGR protein expression level was not significant statistically in liver,muscle and kidney across two breeds, but the amount of Huai pig HMGR protein expressed in three tissues was higher than that of the Landrace. The level of HMGR protein expression in liver was higher than in the muscle and renal tissues (P<0.05). The results demonstrate that HMGR expression in pigs may depend on tissue and species.