Protective Effect Of Dietary Lycopene Supplementation On The Digestive Physiology,intestinal Antioxidant,and Immune Capacity Of Broilers Challenged With Aflatoxin B₁

AflatoxinB1(AFB1)is one of the most known mycotoxins in animal feed and grains that cause economic loss and animal health problems.The intestinal tract is considered one of the main target organs affected by aflatoxins.The small intestine displays various morphological and functional alterations after exposure to toxicity.As the first barrier against toxins and pathogens,the intestinal mucosa plays a biological,mechanical,and immune barrier.AFB1 can disrupt the small intestinal mucosa’s protective barrier function by altering the epithelium’s intestinal physiology and tissue integrity.Lycopene(LYC)has been shown to have antioxidant,and immune defensive properties,and some research has been confirming that LYC can alleviate various tissue damages caused by aflatoxins.One hundred forty-four one-day-old male Arbor Acres(AA)broilers were randomly divided into three dietary treatment groups;each group consisted of 6 replicates(8 birds in each replicate).Treatments were:1.a basal diet containing neither AFB1 nor LYC(Control),2.basal diet containing 100 μg/kg AFB1,and 3.basal diets with 100 μg/kg AFB1 and 200 mg/kg LYC(AFB1+LYC).At present,LYC as a feed supplementation in broiler has few studies on the protective effect of LYC against AFB1 toxicity in the broiler’s small intestine.Therefore,the current study was conducted to investigate the protective efficiency of dietary lycopene supplementation on the digestive physiology,intestinal antioxidant,and immune capacity of broilers challenged with AFB1.1.Evaluation of the protective effect of lycopene on growth performance,intestinal morphology,and carcass characteristics of aflatoxinB1 exposed broilersThis current research aimed to investigate the protective efficiency of dietary lycopene(LYC)supplementation on growth performance,intestinal morphology,and carcass characteristics of aflatoxin(AFB1)challenged broilers.The results showed that the AFB1 diet had significantly decreased(P<0.05)ADG and increased FCR during the experimental trial compared to the control group.LYC addition to AFB1 contaminated broiler diets increased(P<0.05)ADG and decreased FCR compared to the AFB1 group.In addition,the carcass characteristic results showed that the live body weight(BWT)was reduced(P<0.05)in the AFB1-contaminated group compared to the control group.On the other hand,the diet with LYC supplement significantly increased(P<0.05)the BWT and tended to increase the breast yield in comparison to the AFB1contaminated group.Moreover,data on intestinal morphology indicated that the diet of AFB1 significantly decreased(P<0.05)the VH and VCR while CD was significantly increased(P<0.05)compared to the control.However,dietary LYC supplementation increased VH and VCR while decreasing(P<0.05)CD compared to the AFB1 group on 21 and 42 d age of broilers.AFB1contaminated broilers also showed significantly greater(P<0.05)serum D-lactate concentrations at 21 d and diamine oxidase(DAO)activity at 42 d as compared to the control group.The administration of dietary LYC significantly reduced(P<0.05)serum DAO activities compared to the AFB1 contaminated broiler group.The results also showed that dietary LYC supplementation ameliorated the AFB1 induced broiler intestinal changes by increasing mRNA abundances of cludin-1(CLDN-1)and zonula occludens-1(ZO-1)in the jejunum mucosa.2.Dietary supplementations of lycopene ameliorate nutrient digestibility and mRNA expression of the intestinal nutrient transporters with aflatoxinB1-contaminated dietThe current study investigated the ameliorative effects of lycopene(LYC)on nutrient digestibility and mRNA expression levels of nutrient transporter genes of broilers contaminated with aflatoxinB1(AFB1).The results showed that the AFB1 contamination diet impaired nutrient digestion parameters,ether extract(EE),and crude ash were upregulated(P<0.05)by the administration of LYC supplement compared to the AFB1 contaminated broiler group.However,data on intestinal digestive enzyme activities indicated that the diet of AFB1 significantly decreased(P<0.05)the amylase and lipase activities compared to the control group.The addition of dietary LYC significantly increased(P<0.05)the amylase and lipase activities on 21 and 42 d compared to the AFB1 group.The activities of jejunal lactase were significantly decreased(P<0.05)by AFB1 infected broiler group intestinal mucosa.The addition of LYC significantly increased(P<0.05)the brush border enzyme lactase activities in the jejunum compared to the AFB1-contaminated broiler group.Moreover,the downregulated sodium-glucose transporter 1(SGLT1),r basic amino acid transporter(rBAT),and fatty acid transporter protein 4(FATP4)mRNA abundance were upregulated by the addition of LYC supplementation with the AFB1infected broiler group.However,the findings suggest that supplementation of LYC improved intestinal epithelial damage and increased nutrient digestion and transportation in AFB1一contaminated broilers.3.Dietary lycopene supplementation could alleviate aflatoxinB1 induced intestinal damage through anti-oxidant capacity in broilersThe present study evaluates the effects of lycopene(LYC)supplementation on intestinal barrier function and broiler’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacity fed with an aflatoxinB1(AFB1)contaminated diet.The results showed that AFB1-induced increase of mucosal malondialdehyde(MDA)and hydrogen peroxide(H2O2)concentrations were reversed by dietary LYC supplementation(P<0.05).However,the AFB1 diet significantly reduced(P<0.05)antioxidant enzyme CAT(catalase)at 21 d and GSH(glutathione),GST(glutathione-Stransferase),GSH-Px(glutathione peroxidase),and GR(glutathione reductase)activities at 42 d in the jejunum as compared with those in the control group.The addition of dietary LYC supplementation ameliorated the redox balance by increasing the antioxidant enzyme activities,and their related HO-1(heme oxygenase-1),Cu/ZnSOD(copper and zinc superoxide dismutase),and MnSOD(manganese superoxide dismutase)mRNA expression abundances compared to AFB1 exposed broilers.In conclusion,dietary supplementation with LYC could alleviate AFB1 induced broiler intestinal barrier damage and improve antioxidants status.4.The effect of dietary lycopene supplementation on immune performance of broilers fed diet contaminated with aflatoxinB1The present study evaluated the effect of dietary lycopene(LYC)supplementation on the immune performance of broilers fed a diet contaminated with aflatoxinB1(AFB1).The results showed that the thymus weight was significantly decreased(P<0.05)in the AFB1-contaminated group compared to the control group.Our study also demonstrated that 100 μg/kg AFB1 in the broiler diet could significantly reduce(P<0.05)the concentration of immunoglobulin A IgA,CD3 in ileum at 42 d,and CD8 in jejunum at 21 d in the intestinal mucosa compared to the control group.The addition of dietary LYC significantly increased(P<0.05)the levels of IgA in jejunum at 21 d and CD3 and CD8 T-cell subsets in ileum at 42 d in the broiler’s small intestine in comparison to the AFB1 group.However,the dietary LYC supplementation significantly(P<0.05)upregulated the AFB1 induced broiler intestinal changes by decreasing the inflammatory cytokines interferon-γ(IFN-γ)and increased interleukin 10(IL-10)concentration in the jejunum mucosa.In conclusion,the broiler diet supplemented with LYC can alleviate immunological parameters by improving intestinal damage against the harmful effects of AFB1.Data in this study concluded that dietary LYC supplementation could alleviate intestinal damage through its antioxidant and immune function against AFB1 contamination in broilers chicken.These findings suggested that LYC is a promising feed supplement in the broiler industry,alleviating the harmful effects of AFB1...