Effects Of Bopu Powder On Growth Performance,Intestinal Development And Function In Broiler Chickens

The intestinal health is a key factor ensuring optimal performance and health of broiler chickens.However,with the high breeding density and fast growth of broilers in the process of modern intensive breeding and production,intestinal damage induced by inflammatory response in more often happen in broiler chickens.The Bopu powders are extracted from the natural plant macleaya,and its active ingredients are allocryptopine and protopine,which have anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects.Therefore,Arbor Acres(AA)broiler chickens are used in this study to explore the effects of dietary supplementation with Bopu powder on growth performance,intestinal development and function in broiler chickens providing a theoretical basis for the application of Bopu powder as new feed additives in broiler production.In this experiment,486 healthy Arbor Acres(AA)broiler chickens were selected(1d,48.76 ± 0.25 g)and randomly allocated into three dietary treatments with six replicates per treatment and 27 broilers per replicate.The control(CON)group was fed a basal diet,the aureomycin(AB)group was fed a basal diet supplemented with 50 mg/kg aureomycin,and the Bopu powder(BP)group was fed a basal diet supplemented with 40 mg/kg Bopu powder.The experiment was conducted for 42-day.Organs,samples of blood,intestine,intestinal mucosa and cecal contents were collected after the experiment,and the test results are as follows:(1)The average daily gain from d 0 to 42 and final body weight in BP group was significantly higher than that in CON and AB groups(P < 0.05).Compared with the CON group,the ADG was significantly higher in BP group(P < 0.05),the F/G was significantly lower from d 21 to 42 and from d 0 to 42 in BP and AB groups(P < 0.05).(2)Compared with CON group,the serum concentrations of TP,HDL,LDL,TCHO,GLU,Ig A,Ig M,C3,and C4 were significantly higher in BP and AB groups(P < 0.05),the serum concentrations of TNF-α,IL-1β,IL-6,and DAO were significantly lower in BP and AB groups(P < 0.05),serum IL-10 concentrations were significantly high in BP group(P < 0.05),the intestinal mucosal concentration of TFF was significantly higher in BP group,and the intestinal mucosal concentration of Casepase-9 was significantly lower(P < 0.05).(3)Compared with CON group,the weight per unit length,VH and TGF-α of small intestine in AB and BP groups were significantly increased(P < 0.05),and the concentrations of TNF-α,IL-6,IL-10,Casepase-3,and Casepase-8 in BP and AB groups were significantly decreased(P < 0.05),the intestinal mucosal concentration of TFF was significantly higher in BP group,and the intestinal mucosal concentration of Casepase-9 was significantly lower(P <0.05).Compared with CON and AB groups,the VH to CD ratio and intestinal mucosal concentrations of ZO-1,SIg A,and IFN-γ were significantly higher in BP group(P < 0.05),and the intestinal mucosal concentration of IL-1β was significantly lower in BP group(P <0.05).(4)Compared with CON group,dietary Bopu powder supplementation significantly increased the m RNA expressions of intestinal barrier function genes(ZO-1,OCLN),nutrient transporters(GLUT2),antioxidant genes(Nrf2,HO-1,SOD1)and apoptotic genes(Bcl-2),and significantly reduced the m RNA expressions of inflammatory genes(My D88,NF-κB)and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio in the intestinal mucosa of broiler chickens(P < 0.05).(5)The results of cecum microbe high-throughput sequencing showed that the cecum microbial beta diversity of broilers in BP group was significantly different from that in CON group(P < 0.05).At the genus level,the relative abundance of Faecalibacium and Colidextribacter significantly increased in the BP group(P < 0.05).Spearman correlation analysis between differential bacterial abundances and parameters in serum and intestine showed that: The Faecalibacterium was significantly positively correlated with intestinal TFF concentration(P < 0.05),and negatively correlated with serum IL-6 concentration(P < 0.05);Colidextribacter was significantly negatively correlated with the serum concentrations of IL-1β and D-lactate(P < 0.05).As mentioned above,the results of this study indicated that(1)Dietary supplementation with 40 mg/kg Bopu powder and 50 mg/kg both could enhance the broiler chickens of growth performance and immune function,and improve intestinal development and function.(2)Dietary supplementation with Bopu powder in broiler chickens could inhibit intestinal cell apoptosis,reduce intestinal inflammatory reaction,enhance antioxidant capacity,increase the abundance of intestinal beneficial bacteria,and promote the intestinal development,which might be attributed to the inhibition of Bopu powder by inactivating the TLR4/My D88/NF-κB pathway,activating Sirt1/Nrf2 pathway,and increasing beneficial bacteria abundances.(3)The Bopu powder could be used as a potential substitution to antibiotics in broiler production.