1. This study evaluated the duodenal wall integrity, antioxidant status as well as some immunological parameters of broiler chickens supplemented with 0.5 g Thymus vulgaris essential oil (EO)/kg diet and 0.4 mg Se/kg DM (dry matter) derived from sodium selenite. 2. A total of 192 one-d-old randomly divided chickens of both sexes (Ross 308 hybrid broilers) were divided into 4 treatment groups of 48 birds each. 3. The first group was fed on a nutritionally balanced basal diet (BD). The other three groups received BD supplemented with 0.5 g/kg thyme oil, or 0.4 mg Se/kg DM, or both feed additives together. 4. The results for the evaluated feed additives were (1) thyme oil - decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in duodenal mucosa and kidney, increased immunoglobulin A (IgA) concentration in duodenal mucosa, stimulated phagocytic activity in blood, improved intestinal barrier integrity (2) selenium - increased glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity in blood and liver as well as thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) activity in duodenal mucosa, liver and in the kidney, (3) EO with selenium - increased thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) activity in duodenal mucosa. 5. These results demonstrated that thyme oil alone showed more effective potential to improve intestinal barrier integrity and antioxidant status as well as evoking an immune response in chickens, than if diets were supplemented with both thyme oil and selenium.
The effects of 0.5 g thyme oil per kg dry matter (DM) of diet on duodenal tissue integrity, antioxidant status, phagocytic activity and selected microbiota in the caecum and faeces of rabbits were studied. Twenty-four rabbits were divided into two groups and were fed a commercial granulated diet for growing rabbits (CD) with access to water ad libitum. The first group was fed the CD, while to the CD of the second group thyme oil was added. Intestinal integrity was tested by measuring the transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER). Thyme oil significantly increased the value of total antioxidant status (TAS) in the blood plasma and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity in the liver, and it decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in the duodenal tissue. Thyme oil resulted in strengthened intestinal integrity, as the essential oil supplementation significantly increased TEER values in the experiment. The faecal microbiota of rabbits was almost completely balanced in both groups, and only a slight decrease was found in the microbial population at day 42 of the trial. In both groups, the bacterial counts were generally lower in the caecum than in the faecal samples. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with 0.5 g/kg DM thyme oil may improve intestinal integrity, and it may have an antioxidant effect. A tendency was also found for thyme oil to stimulate the abundance of some microbes beneficial in the rabbit gut.
Selected indicators of the antioxidant status and blood phagocytic activity were investigated in broiler chickens fed diets enriched with essential oil from Salvia officinalis and/or sodium selenite for 5 weeks. Twenty four one-day-old Ross 308 hybrid broilers were randomly divided into four groups according to dietary treatments. The control group was fed unsupplemented basal diet, whereas the feeds of three treatment groups were supplemented with essential oil (0.05%), sodium selenite (0.4 mg Se/kg dry matter) or their combination, respectively. The intake of diets containing essential oil alone or together with Se significantly elevated (P < 0.05) the total antioxidant status in plasma. The combination of essential oil and sodium selenite added to the basal diet resulted in significant reduction (P < 0.05) of superoxide dismutase activity in erythrocytes, increased activities of glutathione peroxidase in liver (P < 0.001) and duodenal mucosa (P < 0.05) compared to the control. Higher malondialdehyde concentrations in kidney tissues (P < 0.01) of chickens supplemented with sodium selenite were reduced by addition of essential oil to their diet. Blood phagocytic activity was significantly (P < 0.001) increased in both groups supplemented with selenium. The presented results demonstrate that Salvia officinalis essential oil and sodium selenite jointly added to diets had a more positive effect on the antioxidant status of broilers than when both additives were administered separately.
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