Dietary Stevioside Supplementation Alleviates Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Intestinal Mucosal Damage through Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Effects in Broiler Chickens

Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary stevioside (STE) supplementation on the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced intestinal mucosal damage of broiler chickens. A total of 192 one-day-old male Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly divided into four treatments: (1) basal diet (CON); (2) basal diet supplemented with 250 mg/kg stevioside (STE);(3) basal diet + LPS-challenge (LPS); (4) basal diet supplemented with 250 mg/kg stevioside + LPS-challenge (LPS + STE). LPS-challenged groups received an intraperitoneal injection of LPS at 17, 19 and 21 d, whereas the CON and STE groups received a saline injection. The results showed that dietary STE supplementation normalized LPS-induced changes in protein expression of p-NF-κB and p-IκBα, mRNA expression of inflammatory genes (TLR4, NF-κB, and IFN-γ), tight junction-related genes (CLDN2, OCLN, and ZO-1), and antioxidant genes (Nrf2 and HO-1). LPS-induced decreases in serum diamine oxidase (DAO) level, villus height-to-crypt depth ratio, apoptotic index, and protein expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) were reversed with dietary STE supplementation. Additionally, STE supplementation ameliorated the redox damage by reducing malondialdehyde (MDA) content and increasing total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and antioxidant enzyme activity. In conclusion, dietary stevioside supplementation could alleviate LPS-induced intestinal mucosal damage through anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects in broiler chickens.Antioxidants 2019, 8, 575 2 of 20 and oxidative status of the intestine in broiler chickens [7][8][9]. Thus, LPS has been widely applied to establish a model of intestinal mucosal damage in broiler chickens [2,[7][8][9][10]. It is necessary to explore feed additives with therapeutic potential for disrupted intestinal homeostasis of LPS-challenged in broilers.Stevioside (STE) is a natural diterpenoid glycoside extracted from the Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni), which has been proven to be safe in the food industry [11]. A previous study has suggested that STE exerts no harmful effects in the chicken diet with a dose of 667 mg/kg [12]. Despite STE being 250−300 times sweeter than sucrose, it has several nutritional and medical activities such as anti-hyperglycaemic [13], anti-hypertensive [14], and anti-tumor activities [15]. Furthermore, several studies have shown that STE exerts anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects both in vivo and in vitro [11,14,16]. In rats, STE could prevent liver inflammation through antioxidant activity by activating Nrf2 and anti-inflammatory activity by suppressing NF-κB signaling [11]. In a human colonic cell line, steviol (a derivative of STE) suppressed the IL-8 release induced by TNF-α, and reduced the protein expression of NF-κB [17]. STE could also attenuate the LPS-induced synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines by regulating IκBα/NF-κB signaling pathway [16]. In mice, STE promoted macrophage function and increased humoral immune response [18]. STE treatment enhanced antioxidant defense in both the adi...

Effects of dietary sweeteners supplementation on growth performance, serum biochemicals, and jejunal physiological functions of broiler chickens

“…The results suggested that those 3 sweeteners did not induce oxidative stress in the jejunal mucosae. Nevertheless, our recent study has demonstrated that dietary supplementation with STE is able to alleviate lipopolysaccharide-induced intestinal mucosal damage through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in broiler chickens ( Jiang et al., 2019b ). In agreement, STE could also enhance the antioxidant capacity of jejunal mucosae in the present study.…”

“…The 4 treatments were as follows: (1) broiler chickens fed a basal diet ( CON ); (2) broiler chickens fed a basal diet supplemented with 250 mg/kg STE; (3) broiler chickens fed a basal diet supplemented with 100 mg/kg SUC; (4) broiler chickens fed a basal diet supplemented with 600 mg/kg SAC. The supplemental level of STE was chosen according to our previous study ( Jiang et al., 2019b ). The supplemental levels of SUC and SAC were chosen according to a previous study to obtain equivalent sweetness with the amount of STE ( Keast et al., 2004 ).…”

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