Cardiac Indicators, Serum Antioxidant Activity, and Growth Performance as Affected by Hawthorn Extract (Crateagus oxyacantha) in Pulmonary Hypertensive Chickens

ABSTRACT

Hawthorn has been traditionally used to improve blood circulation and medicating cardiac disorders as well as blood stasis and elimination of pulmonary hypertension. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different levels of hawthorn extract in the drinking water on cardiac indicators, serum antioxidant activity, growth and immunity of pulmonary hypertensive broilers reared at high altitude and prone to ascites. A total of 225 one-day-old unsexed broiler chicks (Ross308) were randomly assigned to 15 floor pens. A basal corn-soy based diet was formulated for all treatments. The treatments consisted of the addition of 0, 0.1, or 0.2 mL of hawthorn extract per liter of drinking water. Both levels of hawthorn flavonoid extract significantly (p 0.05) improved feed intake, body weight gain and FCR, and significantly (p 0.05) reduced abdominal fat, liver, and heart relative weights, as well as the number of birds affected with PHS compared with the controls. RV and TV were significantly (p 0.05) lower in hawthorn flavonoid extract fed birds than the controls in addition of significantly (p 0.05) lower TBARS but higher NO serum levels. In conclusion, hawthorn flavonoid extract may effectively be used as an herbal medicine to prevent pulmonary hypertension and cardiac disorders in chickens.