Effect of Lonicera japonica extract on lactation performance, antioxidant status, and endocrine and immune function in heat-stressed mid-lactation dairy cows

Abstract

Here, we examined the effects of Lonicera japonica extract (LJE) on lactation performance, antioxidant status, and endocrine and immune function in heatstressed mid-lactation dairy cows. Twenty-four healthy Chinese Holstein mid-lactation dairy cows, all with similar milk yield (30.0 ± 1.0 kg/d), parity (2.5 ± 0.3), and days in milk (105 ± 5 d) were allocated to 4 groups using a randomized complete block design: a negative control group (without LJE supplementation; CON) and groups that received LJE at 14, 28, and 56 g/d. The experiment lasted 10 wk over a hot summer, with a pre-feeding period of 2 wk. Cows were exposed to heat stress, as the average temperature-humidity index was greater than 72. The results showed that LJE had no effect on respiration rate; however, it reduced the rectal temperature of dairy cows experiencing heat stress in both a linear and quadratic manner; the lowest (39.03°C) was recorded for the LJE-28 group, lower than the CON group. Supplementation with LJE did not affect dry matter intake, milk yield, or milk composition. The majority of biochemical parameters in serum were unaffected by supplementation with different amounts of LJE; the exception was creatinine, which was reduced quadratically. Compared with the CON group, serum triiodothyronine concentrations increased significantly in the LJE-28 group. Addition of LJE to the diet increased thyroxine concentrations quadratically; values peaked at 18.62 ng/mL in the LJE-28 group. Furthermore, supplementation with increasing amounts of LJE quadratically increased the activity of glutathione peroxidase and total antioxidant capacity in serum but decreased concentration of malondialdehyde. Although we detected no differences in the concentrations of IgA, IgM, or cytokines, dairy cows in the LJE-28 group had higher IgG and IL-4 concentrations than did cows in the CON group. Supplementation with LJE increased concentrations of IgG and IL-4 in the serum quadratically but decreased that of IL-2. Finally, heat shock protein 72 concentrations in the serum tended to fall quadratically as the amount of LJE increased. In summary, LJE had no negative effects on lactation performance but helped to alleviate heat stress by improving antioxidant status and promoting endocrine and immune functions. Supplementation with LJE at 28 g/d is recommended for lactating dairy cows experiencing heat stress during hot summers.

Supplementation with galacto-oligosaccharides in early life persistently facilitates the microbial colonization of the rumen and promotes growth of preweaning Holstein dairy calves

“…An automated biochemistry analyzer (Hitachi 7080, Tokyo, Japan) was used to measure serum biochemical parameters: the serum total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL), urea nitrogen (UREA), and glucose (GLU) concentrations; and the serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine transaminase (ALT) activities ( Sun et al, 2017 ; Ma et al, 2020 ). The serum concentrations of mineral elements (Ca, Cu, P, Zn, Mg, and Fe) were measured using inductively-coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES, PQ 9000, Analytik Jena, Jena, Germany), as described in the Chinese National Standards (GB 5009.268, China, 2016) and as reported previously ( Wei et al, 2019 ).…”

Network Pharmacology-Based Strategy for Exploring the Pharmacological Mechanism of Honeysuckle (Lonicer japonica Thunb.) against Newcastle Disease

“…It indicated that Honeysuckle has good anti-inflammatory properties [ 14 ]. An experimental study showed that adding Honeysuckle extract could reduce the concentration of IL-2 in the middle stage of heat stress; it indicated that Honeysuckle extract had effects on the antioxidant status and immune function of cows [ 27 ]. Furthermore, there is evidence that β -carotene can reduce skin inflammation by inhibiting the expression of inflammatory factors and reducing the activity of MMP9 in the ox-AD mouse model [ 28 ].…”

Potential Application of Lonicera japonica Extracts in Animal Production: From the Perspective of Intestinal Health

“…Table 2 summarized the application of L. japonica (extract) in animal production in recently years. It showed that these studies mainly focus on pigs ( Liu W. et al, 2016 ), beef cattle ( Fu et al, 2016 ; Yejun et al, 2019 ), dairy cows ( Ma et al, 2020a , b ; Zhao et al, 2020 ), broiler ( Müştak et al, 2015 ), laying hens ( Long et al, 2018 ), Penaeus monodon ( Chen et al, 2013 ), grass carp ( Meng et al, 2019 ), and olive flounder ( Dharaneedharan et al, 2016 ).…”

“…Moreover, in vitro studies showed that L. japonica extract could regulate rumen fermentation and reduce methane production by inhibiting the growth of methanogenic bacteria ( Huang et al, 2019 ; Yejun et al, 2019 ). Studies on dairy cows showed that dietary supplementation of L. japonica extract could relieve heat stress of dairy cows by improving immune and antioxidant capacity ( Ma et al, 2020a , b ; Gao et al, 2021 ), enhancing anti-inflammatory activity ( Zhao et al, 2020 ). Meanwhile, L. japonica extract can improve rumen microbial diversity and improve rumen fermentation capacity ( Tang et al, 2018a ).…”

“…Lonicera japonica extract is widely used in pharmacological preparations, cosmetics, food, and animal husbandry because of its diverse pharmacological effects such as antioxidant, anti-microbial, antiviral, antitoxic, antiseptic, and anti-inflammatory properties (Kang et al, 2010;Park et al, 2012;Yejun et al, 2019). The application of L. japonica extract in animal production mainly focuses on pigs (Liu W. et al, 2016), beef cattle (Yejun et al, 2019), dairy cows (Ma et al, 2020b;Zhao et al, 2020), broiler (Müştak et al, 2015), laying hens (Long et al, 2018), Penaeus monodon (Chen et al, 2013), grass carp (Meng et al, 2019), and olive flounder (Dharaneedharan et al, 2016). From the results of these studies, L. japonica extract can function as a potential alternative antibiotic in animal feeds.…”