Research Note: Dietary resveratrol supplementation improves the hepatic antioxidant capacity and attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation in yellow-feathered broilers.

This experiment investigated the protective effect of resveratrol (RES) on the hepatic antioxidant status and systemic inflammation in yellow-feathered broilers challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). A total of 240 healthy 1-day-old yellow-feathered broilers were randomly divided into 4 groups (control, LPS, RES, and RES+LPS), with 5 replicates of 12 chickens per replicate. The experiment lasted 21 d. The broilers were fed with either the basal diet or the basal diet supplemented with 400 mg/kg RES followed by intraperitoneal challenge with LPS (1 mg/kg body weight) or the same amount of saline at d 16, 18, and 20. The results showed that dietary RES supplementation could improve the activities of total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the liver of yellow-feathered broilers challenged with LPS (P < 0.05). Furthermore, LPS challenge increased the plasma interleukin-17 (IL-17) concentration, the hepatic interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) concentrations, as well as the concentrations of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), IL-6, and IL-1ß in the spleen (P < 0.05), and decreased the transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) concentrations in the plasma, liver, and spleen (P < 0.05). However, dietary RES supplementation could reduce the increased TNF-α levels in the plasma, liver, and spleen induced by LPS, and increased TGF-ß level in the liver and spleen (P < 0.05). Collectively, these results suggest that dietary RES supplementation could effectively improve the hepatic antioxidant capacity and attenuate LPS-induced inflammation in yellow-feathered broilers during the starter stage.

Effect of dietary resveratrol supplementation on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, intestinal immunity and gut microbiota in yellow-feathered broilers challenged with lipopolysaccharide.

Resveratrol (RES) displays strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in protecting the animals from various stressors and inflammatory injuries, but its interrelationship with the gut microbiota remained largely unclear. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of dietary RES supplementation on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, intestinal immunity and gut microbiota in yellow-feathered broilers challenged by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). A total of 240 yellow-feathered broilers were randomly assigned to four treatment groups in a 2 × 2 factorial design. The broilers were fed with the control diet or control diet supplemented with 400 mg/kg RES, followed by challenge with LPS or the same amount of saline. Dietary RES supplementation significantly alleviated the decreases in the final body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), and ADFI induced by LPS (P < 0.05). LPS challenge significantly increased plasma concentrations of triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and cortisol levels, but decreased triiodothyronine (T3) and insulin levels (P < 0.05). Dietary supplementation with RES significantly reversed the elevated creatinine concentrations and the decreased concentrations of T3 and insulin caused by LPS (P < 0.05). Moreover, dietary RES supplementation significantly increased plasma total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and catalase (CAT) activities and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and T-AOC activities in jejunal mucosa and reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in the plasma (P < 0.05). The reduction in the villus height to crypt depth ratio in duodenum, jejunum and ileum and the shortening of villus height in jejunum and ileum caused by LPS were also alleviated by RES treatment (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the increased concentrations of intestinal tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and IL-1ß caused by LPS were significantly decreased by RES treatment (P < 0.05). Dietary RES treatment increased the mRNA expression of claudin-1, claudin-5, occludin, and zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), and decreased mRNA expression of IL-1ß, IL-8, IL-17, and TNF-α after LPS challenge (P < 0.05). Dietary RES treatments significantly decreased the dominance of cecal microbiota, and increased the Pieiou-e and Simpson index. Moreover, dietary RES supplementation increased relative abundance of UCG_ 009, Erysipelotrichaceae, Christensenellaceae_R-7_group, Anaerotruncus, RF39, and Ruminococcus while decreasing the abundance of Alistipes at genus level. Spearman correlation analysis revealed that the microbes at the order and genus levels significantly correlated with indicators of growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal health. Collectively, dietary supplementation with 400 mg/kg RES could improve growth performance and antioxidant capacity, and modulate intestinal immunity in yellow-feathered broilers challenged by LPS at early stage, which might be closely associated with the regulation of gut microbiota community composition.