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An experiment was conducted to study the efficacy of artichoke aqueous extract (AAE) on the performance, carcass characteristics, clinical blood chemistry values, and the gut morphology of female broiler chickens poisoned with carbon tetra chloride (CCl 4 ). Broiler chicks were categorized into four experimental groups each of which contained 10 chicks; control group, artichoke group (0.5g/kg/bwt of artichoke aqueous extract), CCl 4 group (1ml/kg/bwt of CCl 4 ), and artichoke+ CCl 4 group (0.5g/kg/bwt of artichoke extract plus 1ml/kg/bwt of CCl 4 ). Blood samples were analyzed for the clinical blood chemistry values, cholesterol, triglyceride, albumin, total protein, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate amino transferase (AST), and alkaline phosphates (ALP). Intestinal samples were processed for histological assessment. Results showed that chicks fed with artichoke supplemented diet had an improvement in the FCR during the 21-35 days of the experiment period compared with other groups. The significant increase of the albumin level was observed in artichoke group compared with CCl 4 group. There was a significant difference in the total protein level in the artichoke group in comparison with CCl 4 group and artichoke + CCl 4 group. Concentration of AST enzyme was determined significantly lower in the artichoke group compared with other groups. The artichoke group showed a significant increase in the villus length compared with the control and CCl 4 groups. However, the artichoke + CCl 4 group did not show a significant change (P< 0.05) in the villus length compared with the control group. In conclusion, our study showed that the use of artichoke extract improves morphological status in the small intestine in broiler chickens and subsequently improves the digestibility.In conclusion, our study provides evidence that the use of artichoke extract improves morphological status in small intestine in broiler chickens and subsequently improves the digestibility.

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In recent years, there has been an increase in the consumption of omega-6 fatty acids (FAs) over omega-3. Moreover, the antioxidant nature of oil supplemented diet in human and animal studies is not clear. In this work, the n-3 effects on hen ovarian cells, ovarian dynamics, serum FA profiles and expression level of apoptosis genes in the presence or absence of vitamin E were studied. Sixty-eight laying hens were randomly divided into four groups and the groups were fed the following diets: basal diet þ1.5% sunflower oil (control; C); basal diet þ1.5% sunflower oil þ1.1 U alpha-tocopherol/hen/day (E); basal diet þ1.5% fish oil þ1.1 U alphatocopherol/hen/day (n-3 þ E); and basal diet þ1.5% fish oil (n-3). In E, n-3 þ E and n-3, small yellow follicle numbers were higher than control (p < .05). Large yellow follicle numbers as well as total numbers of follicles of n-3 þ E and n-3 were higher (p < .05) than control and E. The rate of ovulation was significantly (p < .05) higher in n-3 (96%) compared to the control (89%). The proportion of intact primordial follicles in n-3 and n-3 þ E was significantly more than control and E (p < .01). The expression of Bak (Bcl2 antagonist/killer) was significantly (p < .05) higher in control than the other groups. There was significant reduction in expression of Cas9 in n-3 and E compared to the control and n-3 þ E (p < .05). While omega-3 and vitamin E can protect ovarian cells from apoptotic death, omega-3 source could have promoting roles on follicular development and ovulation rate, being independent of dietary vitamin E. HIGHLIGHTSDespite the perceived importance of supplementing antioxidant with fatty acids, our results indicated that alone low level of n-3 has a great influence on ovary performance. ARTICLE HISTORY