Hypocholesterolemic, Antioxidative, and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Dietary Spirulina platensisis Supplementation on Laying Hens Exposed to Cyclic Heat Stress

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the role of dietary Spirulina platensis (SP) supplementation in relieving the negative impacts of heat stress (HS) on the productive performance, cholesterol profile, redox status, and inflammatory cytokines of laying hens. A total of 288, 45-wk-old and 1550.7 ± 2.3 g initial body weight, HY-Line W-36 laying hens were housed in two environmental-controlled compartments. Layers were allotted to eight treatments of a two × four factorial design, with six replicates containing six birds per treatment. The temperature in one of the compartments was kept at a thermoneutral condition (24 °C group), while the temperature in the other compartment was raised to a cyclic heat stress of 35 °C from 9:00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. (35 °C group). Layers in each compartment were fed on one of four experimental diets, containing 0%, 3%, 6%, or 9% SP (SP groups). The trial continued for five weeks. As a result of this study, exposure of laying hens to cyclic HS resulted in a significant (p < 0.05) increase in the total cholesterol (CH), low-density lipoprotein-CH, liver- and egg yolk-CH, ceruloplasmin, malondialdehyde, interleukins (IL-1β and IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α, and a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in the high-density lipoprotein-CH, total antioxidant capacity, and reduced glutathione levels. HS negatively (p < 0.05) affected the hen–day egg production (EP, 90.5% vs. 77.0%), egg weight (EW, 61.8 g vs. 56.8 g), feed intake (FI, 111.6 g vs. 101.5 g) and feed conversion ratio (FCR, 2.00 vs. 2.37). As SP levels increased in layer diets, a linear (p < 0.05) improvement response in most of the parameters was obtained in both HS and non-HS layers, recording the best results with 9% SP (e.g., 78.8% vs. 87.6% EP, 56.7 g vs. 61.9 g EW, 103.3 g vs. 110.2 g FI, and 2.38 vs. 2.04 FCR, in 0% vs. 9% SP, respectively). When incorporating SP into the diets of HS-layers, the negative impacts of HS were remarkably relieved (p < 0.05). Therefore, diets containing 9% SP could be used as a promising approach to improve the productive and physiological performance of laying hens, particularly under heat stress conditions.

Early Feeding Strategy Mitigates Major Physiological Dynamics Altered by Heat Stress in Broilers

“…In the present study, the control group exhibited lower antioxidant marker activity and higher lipid peroxidation levels. Al-Otaibi, Abdellatif, Al-Huwail, Abbas, Mehaisen, and Moustafa [49] reported a substantial reduction in total antioxidant capacity with an elevation in plasma MDA levels in laying hens subjected to heat stress. Alaqil, Abd El-Atty, and Abbas [56] also reported a significant 4.6-fold increase in MDA levels in broilers exposed to chronic heat stress compared with those reared under thermoneutral conditions.…”

“…Lu, He, Ma, Zhang, Li, Jiang, Zhou, and Gao [48] linked the increase in serum urea and uric acid with protein degradation and muscle atrophy under heat stress. Heat stress was also reported to induce hypercholesterolemia in broiler chickens [49]. Meanwhile, a reduction in serum total cholesterol was achieved with feed restriction for three hours a day in heat-stressed broilers [47].…”

Arthrospira platensis as future food: a review on functional ingredients, bioactivities and application in the food industry

“…Feeding diets containing 3%, 6% and 9% A. platensis improved serum indices, redox status, inflammatory response and egg production of laying hens. The best results were obtained with a diet containing 9% A. platensis (Al‐Otaibi et al ., 2022).…”

Turmeric (Curcuma longa): an alternative to antibiotics in poultry nutrition

“…Additionally, turmeric has been shown to have hypocholesterolemic and hepatoprotective effects in poultry. These effects are likely due to the presence of bioactive compounds, such as curcuminoids and polysaccharides, that have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and hepatoprotective properties ( Laganá et al, 2019 ; Al-Otaibi et al, 2022 ). Therefore, the inclusion of turmeric or its extracts in poultry feed may be a potential strategy to improve the birds’ health and productivity.…”