Effects of Vitamin A and K3 on Immune Function and Intestinal Antioxidant Capacity of Aged Laying Hens

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate effects of vitamin A (VA) and vitamin K 3 (VK 3 ) on immune function and intestinal antioxidant capacity of aged laying hens. In a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement, the diets of 1080 Roman Pink laying hens (87 weeks old) was formulated with deficient, adequate and excess VA and VK 3 , including 0, 7000 and 14000 IU/kg VA and 0, 2.0 and 4.0 mg/kg VK 3 for 8 weeks. Interactive effects between VA and VK 3 were observed that VA and VK 3 decreased the splenetic mRNA expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-α), but increased the plasma immunoglobulin G (IgG) content and jejunal mRNA expression of nuclear factor-like 2 (Nrf2). Hens fed adequate or excess VA had higher spleen index, mRNA expression of interleukin-10 (IL-10) in spleen, sIgA content, catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase and total dismutase (T-SOD) activity, and mRNA expression of polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR) in jejunum and lower mRNA expression of IL-1β in jejunum and iNOS, TNF-α in spleen. Furthermore, adequate or excess VK 3 significantly increased plasma IgG content, the CAT, T-SOD and total antioxidant capacity activities, up-regulated the mRNA expression of pIgR, Nrf2, SOD1 and CAT in jejunum and down-regulated the mRNA expression of iNOS and TNF-α in spleen.In conclusion, dietary addition of adequate VA (7000 IU/kg) and VK 3 (2.0 mg/kg) improved the immune function and intestine antioxidant capacity of aged laying hens and excess levels did not exhibit superior effects.

Effects of a mixture of glycerol monolaurate and cinnamaldehyde supplementation on laying performance, egg quality, and antioxidant status in laying hens

“…The activities of T-SOD and GSH-Px and the content of MDA in serum are the basic indexes to detect the antioxidant capacity of the body. 16 GSH-Px is also a symbol of antioxidant enzymes in living organisms, and its function is mainly manifested in the decomposition of H 2 O 2 to catalyze the reduction of oxidative free radicals in the body. 28 MDA, another marker of oxidative stress, is one of the end products of peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids in cells.…”

“…Blood samples collected from the right wing vein were centrifuged (D1524R, DLAB Scientific Co., Ltd, Beijing, China) for 10 min (3000 × g , 4 °C) to collect serum and stored at −80 °C until analysis. After 12 h feed withdrawal, hens (10 birds per group) were sacrificed humanely by cervical dislocation 16 . Then, different follicles were isolated and counted according to follicle diameter (large white follicles (LWFs), follicular diameter 2–6 mm; small yellow follicles (SYFs), follicular diameter 6–8 mm; large yellow follicles (LYFs), follicular diameter 8–12 mm) using methods of previous studies 17,18 …”

“…After 12 h feed withdrawal, hens (10 birds per group) were sacrificed humanely by cervical dislocation. 16 Then, different follicles were isolated and counted according to follicle diameter (large white follicles (LWFs), follicular diameter 2-6 mm; small yellow follicles (SYFs), follicular diameter 6-8 mm; large yellow follicles (LYFs), follicular diameter 8-12 mm) using methods of previous studies. 17,18 Laying performance During the experiment, the number of eggs, egg weight, and unqualified eggs (malformed eggs, soft eggs, broken eggs, dirty eggs) were recorded daily, and feed consumption from every replication was measured weekly.…”

The role of vitamin A in non-ruminant immunology

“…Similar results were reported Faluyi and Agbede (2017) as in their study higher vitamin A supplementation (100 or 200 mg/kg) led to highest antibody titres. Li et al (2022) investigated the effects of vitamin A on the immune function of aged laying hens. The researchers formulated diets with deficient (0 IU/kg), adequate (7000 IU/kg), and excess levels (14,000 IU/kg feed) of vitamin A and fed them to 87 weeks old laying hens for eight weeks.…”

Dietary supplementation with Chinese herb ultrafine powder improves intestinal morphology and physical barrier function by altering jejunal microbiota in laying hens

“…Antibiotics, a type of traditional feed additives, are banned in most countries due to the major threat to public health caused by antibiotic resistance ( Huang et al, 2018 ). In the recent few decades, various antibiotic alternatives, such as natural polyamines ( Ma et al, 2020 ), amino acids ( Dong et al, 2017 ), organic acids ( Gong et al, 2021 ), vitamins ( Li et al, 2022 ), probiotics ( Abd El-Hack et al, 2020 ), and Chinese herbs and their extracts ( Cheng et al, 2014 ) have been used to improve the production performance and product quality in poultry. These feed additives could improve animal health by transplantation of spermidine-altered microbiota ( Ma et al, 2020 ), producing intestinal mucin ( Cheng et al, 2014 ), and altering the selection pressures on the resident microbiota ( Bedford and Cowieson, 2012 ).…”