This study was designed to evaluate the effects of γ-irradiated
Astragalus
polysaccharides (
IAPS
) on growth performance, cecal microbiota populations, and concentrations of cecal short-chain fatty acids of immunosuppressed broilers. A total of 144 one-day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned into 3 groups: nontreated group (control), cyclophosphamide (
CPM
)-treated groups fed either a basal diet or the diets containing 900 mg/kg IAPS, respectively. On day 16, 18, and 20, broilers in the control group were intramuscularly injected with 0.5 mL sterilized saline (0.75%, wt/vol), and those in the CPM and IAPS groups were intramuscularly injected with 0.5 mL CPM (40 mg/kg of BW). The trial lasted 21 d. Compared with the control group, CPM treatment decreased the broiler average daily gain (
ADG
) and feed intake (
P
< 0.05) but did not affect the overall microbial diversity and compositions, as well as the concentrations of cecal acetate, propionate, and butyrate in cecum of broilers (
P
> 0.05). Dietary IAPS supplementation increased broiler ADG, Shannon index, and decreased Simpson index (
P
< 0.05). Specifically, broilers fed diets containing IAPS showed lower abundances of
Faecalibacterium
,
Bacteroides, and Butyricicoccus
and higher proportions of
Ruminococcaceae UCG-014
,
Negativibacillus
,
Shuttleworthia
,
Sellimonas,
and
Mollicutes
RF39_norank, respectively (
P
< 0.05). The IAPS treatment also increased butyrate concentration (
P
< 0.05) and tended to elevate acetate concentration (
P
= 0.052) in cecal digesta. The results indicated that IAPS are effective in increasing the cecal beneficial bacteria and short-chain fatty acids production, contributing to improvement in the growth performance of immunosuppressive broilers. These findings may expand our knowledge about the function of modified
Astragalus
polysaccharides in broiler chickens.
This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of basal dietary supplementation with 500 mg/kg alpha-lipoic acid (LA) on growth performance, antioxidant capacity and meat quality in different stages in broiler chickens. A total of 240 Arbor Acre chickens were randomly assigned into 4 treatment groups, each treatment containing 6 replicates of 10 chickens each. Group 1 was the control group without LA supplementation; Group 2 was supplied with LA in the starter period; Group 3 was supplied with LA in the grower period; and Group 4 was supplied with LA in the whole period. The results showed that LA supplementation improved average feed intake and body weight gain in all three experimental groups, especially in Group 2. LA supplementation significantly decreased abdominal fat yield in Groups 3 and 4. LA supplementation all improved hepatic total antioxidant capacity, the level of glutathione, the activities of total superoxide dismutase, catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase, in particular in Group 4. LA supplementation decreased the activity of liver xanthine oxidase (XO) in all experimental groups, and that of liver monoamine oxidase in Group 3. The activities of liver CAT and XO in Group 2 were higher than that in Group 3. LA supplementation elevated the pH24 h and decreased drip loss in breast meat in Groups 3 and 4. In conclusion, LA supplementation can improve growth performance, antioxidant properties and meat quality in broiler chicken. LA supplementation in the starter period can improve growth performance and supplementation in the grower - and in the whole period can improve carcass characteristics. There was no significant difference in meat quality of broiler chickens fed on LA-supplemented diet in different stages.
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