Effects of Lycopene on the Expression of Lipid Metabolism, Glucose Transport and Pro-Inflammatory Related Genes in Chickens

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of lycopene on hepatic metabolic-and immune-related gene expression in laying hens. A total of 48 25-week-old White Leghorn hens were randomly allocated into four groups consisting of four replicates of three birds: control (basal diet), T1 (basal diet + 10 mg/kg of tomato powder-containing lycopene), T2 (basal diet + 10 mg/kg of micelles of tomato powder-containing lycopene), and T3 (basal diet + 10 mg/kg of purified lycopene). Chickens were fed ad libitum for 5 weeks, and then total RNA was extracted from the livers for quantitative RT-PCR analysis. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ɣ (PPARɣ) expression was decreased in the liver of chickens after lycopene supplementation (P<0.05). Micellar lycopene supplementation decreased the expression of PPARɣ target genes including fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) and fatty acids synthase (FASN) in the T2 group (P<0.05). Sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (SREBP2) and C/EBP-ɑ were also downregulated in hens fed with micellar lycopene (P<0.05). Glucose transporter 8 (GLUT-8) was upregulated in the T2 and T3 groups (P<0.05). However, the expression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT-1) was not changed by lycopene supplementation. Pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor ɑ (TNF-ɑ) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) were downregulated by lycopene supplementation (P<0.05). These data suggest that the type of lycopene supplementation is critical and that micelles of tomato powder-containing lycopene may play an important role in the modulation of lipid metabolism and immunity in chickens.

Effect of Natural and Synthetic Sources of Lycopene on Productive Performance, Carcass Quality and viscera relative weights of Japanese Quail Coturnx japonica Temminck & Schlegel, 1849

“…Also, this improvement may be due to the role of lycopene in enhancing digestive enzyme activities, which increase the efficiency of nutrients use, rapid growth and organs development, and body weight (Jang & Moon, 2015). Similarly, with the present results, Leke et al (2018) indicated that adding dry tomato powder to broiler diet by 12% led to an increase in carcass weight.…”