The Effects Of Dietary Ferulic Acid Supplementation On Intestinal And Liver Health Of Tianfu Broilers Challenged With Lipopolysaccharide

Poultry in intensive farming are highly susceptible to various toxin factors.Lipopolysaccharide,as bacterial toxin,can lead to the decline of production performance,inflammation,oxidative stress,liver damage,intestinal damage and other pathological changes.Phytochemicals are gaining more and more attention because of their various pharmacological effects,and their application in growth promotion and disease prevention in poultry production is becoming more and more common.Therefore,this aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of 100 mg/kg ferulic acid on the growth performance,antioxidant ability,intestinal and liver health of Tianfu broilers challenged by lipopolysaccharide.In this study,one hundred sixty,25-day-old healthy Tianfu broilers with similar body weight（P>0.05）,were divided into four groups randomly,with 4 replicates in each group and 10 chickens in each replicate.The specific groups were:control group（CON group）,lipopolysaccharide group（LPS group）,ferulic acid group（FA group）and ferulic acid treatment group（FL group）.The broilers in the CON group and the LPS group were fed the basal diet,while the broilers in the FA group and the FL group were fed the basal diet supplemented with 100 mg/kg of ferulic acid（FA）.The experimental period lasted for 21days.Subjects in LPS and FL group were administered 1.0 mg/kg of LPS intraperitoneally,whereas those in CON and FA group were administered normal saline intraperitoneally at day 14,16,18 and 20.Subjects were euthanized and samples were collected for analysis on day 21.The results showed that:（1）LPS decreased body weight（BW）at 21 days（P<0.05）,and increased feed conversion rate（FCR）at 15-21 days（P<0.05）,decreased the levels of total superoxide dismutase（T-SOD）,glutathione（GSH）,immunoglobulin A（Ig A）,immunoglobulin M（Ig M）,interleukin-1β（IL-1β）,interleukin-6（IL-6）and the activity of T-AOC in serum of Tianfu broilers（P<0.05）.While dietary 100 mg/kg FA decreased FCR at 15-21 days（P<0.05）,and increase BW at 21 days and the levels of T-SOD,T-AOC,Ig A,IL-1β,and IL-6in serum of Tianfu broilers challenged by LPS（P<0.05）.（2）LPS decreased the contents of the levels of T-SOD,GSH and the activity of T-AOC in the duodenum,jejunum and ileum mucosa of Tianfu broilers（P<0.05）.LPS decreased the villus height（P<0.05）,increased crypt depth（P<0.05）and decreased V/C ratio（P<0.05）of duodenum,increased crypt depth of jejunum（P<0.05）,decreased villus height of ileum（P<0.05）.LPS increased level of D-LA and DAO in serum（P<0.05）.LPS increased the percentage of ileal cells in G₀G₁phase and decreased the percentage of ileal cells in G₂M and S phases and PI index（P<0.05）.LPS decreased the expression of Claudin-1 and ZO-1（P<0.05）and the relative abundance of Firmicutes,Lactobacillaceae,Ruminococcaceae and Lactobacillus in ileum.However,dietary supplementation of 100mg/kg of FA can adjust the above indicators.（3）LPS could cause disorder of the liver cord,increase congestion and necrosis.At the same time,LPS reduced the activities of T-SOD,T-AOC and GSH in liver（P<0.05）,and the relative expression levels of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor（Nrf2）,NAD（P）H dehydrogenase quinone 1（NQO1）,superoxide dismutase（SOD）,glutathione（GPx）and catalase（CAT）（P<0.05）.In contrast,dietary supplementation of 100 mg/kg of FA could increase the activities of T-SOD,T-AOC,the level of GSH and the relative expression levels of Nrf2,NQO1,SOD,CAT in liver of Tianfu broilers challenged by LPS（P<0.05）.And the addition of 100 mg/kg FA alleviate the decrease of antioxidant ability and the pathological damage in liver of Tianfu broilers challenged by lipopolysaccharide.In conclusion,LPS leaded to the decline of growth performance and the antioxidant ability in serum,intestinal and liver,the damage of intestinal structure and intestinal barrier,the change of gut microbiome and hepatic injury.However,dietary supplementation of 100mg/kg FA alleviate the above adverse effects caused by LPS.