The gastrointestinal tract is considered as one of the main target organs affected by heat stress. Phytogenic feed additives containing phenolics and flavonoids can improve the resistance of broilers to heat stress. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with enzymatically treated Artemisia annua (EA) on growth performance, intestinal morphology, digestive enzyme activities, immunity and antioxidant capacity of broilers challenged with heat stress. One hundred and forty-four 21-day-old male Arbor Acres broilers were randomly distributed into 3 treatments: 1) non-challenged control (CON); 2) heat-stress-challenged control (HS); and 3) heat-stress-challenged group + 1 g EA/kg diet (HS-EA). From 22 to 41 d, broilers in the CON group were housed at 22 ± 1°C, the HS and HS-EA groups, in which broilers were raised at 34 ± 1°C for 8 h (0900-1700 h) and the temperature for the rest time was the same as that of the CON group. The EA supplementation alleviated the compromised body weight gain and intestinal morphology impairment caused by heat stress challenge (P < 0.05). The EA attenuated heat-stress-induced decreased intestinal lipase, trypsin and total superoxide dismutase activities, and reduced intestinal secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) and IgG concentrations (P < 0.05). The EA inclusion prevented the elevation of intestinal malondialdehyde content and reduction of intestinal glutathione concentration induced by heat stress challenge (P < 0.05). The intestinal mRNA abundances of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2, heme oxygenase 1, glutathione peroxidase, gamma-glutamyl cysteine ligase larger catalytic subunit and gamma-glutamyl cysteine ligase smaller modulator subunit in heat-stressed broilers were increased in response to dietary EA treatment (P < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation of 1 g/kg EA could alleviate heat-stress-induced compromised growth performance and intestinal damage of broilers.

No abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of oridonin (ORI) on growth performance and antioxidant capacity in broiler chickens that were repeatedly challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). A total of 384 one-day-old male Arbor Acre broiler chickens were randomly assigned to 8 treatments with 6 replicate cages per treatment and 8 birds per replicate. There were 4 dietary treatments: the control group (birds fed the basal diet), the ORI 50 group, the ORI 80 group, and the ORI 100 group (the basal diet supplemented with 50, 80, and 100 mg/kg oridonin, respectively). Broilers were intraperitoneally injected with either 250 μg/kg BW LPS or an equivalent amount of sterile saline at 16, 18, and 20 d of age. LPS decreased the average daily weight gain (ADG), the average daily feed intake (ADFI), and the feed conversion ratio (FCR) of broiler chickens (P < 0.05); oridonin supplementation had no effects on performance whether before or after LPS injection (P > 0.05). LPS stimulation increased the relative weight of the spleen and bursa (P < 0.05); oridonin inclusion markedly attenuated the increased spleen index (P < 0.05). Additionally, the LPS-induced increases in the concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA) and decreases in activities of total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and catalase (CAT) were dramatically attenuated by oridonin in both the serum and liver (P < 0.05). Furthermore, LPS down-regulated the mRNA expressions of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), copper and zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD), manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx1), and CAT in the liver (P < 0.05), However, oridonin inclusion increased the liver mRNA expression levels of Nrf2, Cu/Zn-SOD, Mn-SOD, CAT, and GPx1 (P < 0.05). It was concluded that the dietary oridonin supplementation at an optimum dose of 100 mg/kg improves the antioxidant capacity in broilers, as evidenced by the decrease in MDA and the increase in total SOD activities and mRNA expression levels of the liver antioxidant genes, although the effects on growth performance was negligible.

The toxicological effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles (nano-ZnOs) are related to their dissolution and interference with zinc ion homeostasis. High-soluble zinc sources may produce more severe and acute toxicity; however, the evaluation of potential toxicity of long-term exposure to nano-ZnOs and high-soluble sources of zinc remains obscure. This study aimed at evaluating effects of nano-ZnOs and zinc sulfate on development, serum and hematological parameters, and mineral concentrations in selected tissues and intestinal microbiota in mice via gastrointestinal administration for 7 weeks. Results indicated that 250 mg/kg nano-ZnOs reduced the body weight from weeks 8 to 11, increased serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase activity, and increased the zinc concentrations of the serum, liver, and kidney while did not affect the relative organ weight, intestinal microbiota, and other mineral concentrations (Fe, Cu, and Mn) in the kidney, liver, and thigh muscle. Oral administration with 250 mg/kg zinc sulfate seemed to show more severe and acute toxicity since mice in zinc sulfate group exhibited reduced body weight from weeks 5 to 11, decreased relative pancreas weight, and increased serum glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase activity and intestinal enteric group.

In Eriocheir sinensis aquaculture, crabs feeding on an artificial diet without steroid hormones available in ice-fresh fish or snails show delayed ovarian maturation and late listing. Icariin (ICA), a safe plant-derived monomer compound, can effectively promote estradiol (E 2) synthesis and ovarian development in mammals, but its effect in crustaceans has not been reported. We investigated the effects of ICA on estrogen synthesis, vitellogenesis, and oocyte development in Chinese mitten crabs fed with one of four diets containing 0, 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg ICA, respectively, for 8 weeks. Results showed that vitellogenin (VTG) contents, gonadosomatic indexes (GSIs), and oocyte volumes in ICA50 and ICA 100 crabs were significantly higher than those in the control. The highest upregulated expression of VTG in hepatopancreases and ovaries was detected in ICA100 crabs. Hemolymph E 2 contents were also significantly increased in ICA100 crabs. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and western blot analysis indicated that the increase in E 2 concentrations was attributable to an elevation in aromatase protein levels in ovaries through the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)/protein kinase A (PKA)/cAMP response element binding (CREB) protein pathway. These findings suggest that ICA could serve as a natural additive to resolve the problem of delayed ovarian maturation of crabs raised in ponds.

Reactive oxygen species and free radicals play multiple roles in some immune-pathological events. Vitamin E, as a very potent antioxidant, perhaps deceases the potentially negative effects of such oxidative stress to prevent immune-pathological damage to broilers. Therefore, the current study investigated the effects of dietary natural (D-α-tocopherol) and synthetic (DL-α-tocopherol acetate) vitamin E on the growth performance and antioxidant capacity in cyclophosphamide (CY) immunosuppressed broilers. 192 one-day-old male Arbor Acre broilers were randomly distributed into 4 groups: 1) non-CY-challenged control; 2) CY-challenged control; 3) CY-challenged group+20 IU DL-α-tocopherol acetate per kg feed; and 4) CY-challenged group+20 IU D-α-tocopherol per kg feed. The maize-soybean basal diet in the control group contained α-tocopherol (7.12 mg/kg). Broilers were intramuscularly injected with 80 mg/kg body weight of CY or sterile saline at 16, 17, and 18 d of age. CY decreased (P < 0.05) the average daily gain and average daily feed intake, but vitamin E did not alter the growth performance of broilers before or after CY injection (P > 0.05). The decreased absolute weight of the spleen, thymus and bursa, serum interleukin 2 (IL-2), and interleukin 6 (IL-2) concentrations in CY-treated broilers were alleviated by vitamin E (P < 0.05) . The decreased relative weight (g/kg body weight) of the bursa in the CY-treated broilers was increased by natural vitamin E (P < 0.05). The CY-induced increases in malondialdehyde (MDA) content and decreases in total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), glutathione, vitamin C, and α-tocopherol levels, and total superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities in both serum and the liver were attenuated by vitamin E (P < 0.05). Additionally, natural vitamin E increased α-tocopherol and T-AOC levels and decreased MDA content in the liver of CY-treated broilers (P < 0.05) when compared to the synthetic form. In summary, both synthetic and natural vitamin E supplementation improved lymphoid organ weights, serum IL-2 and IL-6 levels, and antioxidant capacity of immunosuppressed broilers induced by CY. Especially, natural vitamin E was superior to the synthetic form and enhanced α-tocopherol and T-AOC levels, reduced MDA concentration in the liver, and alleviated the immune damage of the bursa.

No abstract

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between fat deposition and endoplasmic reticulum stress of blunt snout bream through changing dietary lipid levels and adding lipolytic agents. The results showed that high fat diet (HFD) remarkably increased VSI, IPF, whole‐body lipid, tissue lipid contents, plasma levels of LDL‐C, TC and TG contents, cytosolic cytochrome c activity and Ca2+ content and the transcriptions of GRP78, IRE1, XBP1s and SREBP1, whereas the opposite was true for plasma HDL‐C content, SDH and Na+, K+‐ATPase activities in the mitochondria, Ca2+‐ATPase activity in the ER and the transcriptions of XBP1u, PPARα and CPT I. In addition, simvastatin supplementation remarkably decreased VSI, tissue lipid contents, plasma LDL‐C and TC levels, cytosolic cytochrome c activity and Ca2+ content and the transcriptions of GRP78, IRE1, XBP1s and SREBP1, while the opposite was true for plasma HDL‐C level, Ca2+‐ATPase activity and the transcriptions of XBP1u, PPARα and CPT I. Furthermore, the histological results showed that large lipid droplets and ultrastructural impairments of the mitochondria, nucleus and ER were present in hepatocytes of fish fed the HFD, while simvastatin supplementation had the potential to alleviate these damages. Taken together, these results indicated that there was an interaction between lipid deposition and endoplasmic reticulum stress induced by HFD.