Changes in the growth, ileal digestibility, intestinal histology, behavior, fatty acid composition of the breast muscles, and blood biochemical parameters of broiler chickens by dietary inclusion of safflower oil and vitamin C

Abstract

Background The effects of safflower oil and vitamin C (Vit. C) inclusion in broiler chicken diets on the growth performance, apparent ileal digestibility coefficient “AID%” of amino acids, intestinal histology, behavior, carcass traits, fatty acid composition of the breast muscle, antioxidant and immune status for a 35-day feeding period were evaluated. A total of 300 three-day-old Ross chicks (58.25 g ± 0.19) were randomly allotted in a 2 × 3 factorial design consisting of two levels of vitamin C (0 and 400 mg/kg diet) and three levels of safflower oil (0, 5, and 10 g/kg diet). Results An increase in the final body weight, total body weight gain, total feed intake, and the relative growth rate (P < 0.05) were reported by safflower oil and vitamin C inclusion. Dietary supplementation of safflower oil and vitamin C had a positive effect (P < 0.05) on the ingestive, resting, and feather preening behavior. Vitamin C supplementation increased (P < 0.05) the AID% of lysine, threonine, tryptophan, arginine, and valine. Safflower inclusion (10 g/kg) increased (P < 0.05) the AID% of methionine and isoleucine. Safflower oil inclusion increased (P < 0.05) the levels of stearic acid, linoleic acid, saturated fatty acids, and omega-3 fatty acids (ω-3) in the breast muscle. In contrast, the supplementation of only 10 g of safflower oil/kg diet increased (P = 0.01) the omega-3/omega-6 (ω-3/ω-6) fatty acids ratio. Vit. C supplementation increased (P < 0.05) the CAT serum levels, SOD, and GSH enzymes. Dietary supplementation of safflower oil and vitamin C improved the intestinal histology. They increased the villous height and width, crypt depth, villous height/crypt depth ratio, mucosal thickness, goblet cell count, and intra-epithelium lymphocytic lick cell infiltrations. The serum levels of IgA and complement C3 were increased (P < 0.01) by Vit. C supplementation and prominent in the 400 vit. C + 10 safflower Oil group. Conclusion A dietary combination of safflower oil and vitamin C resulted in improved growth rate, amino acids AID%, intestinal histology, welfare, immune and antioxidant status of birds, and obtaining ω-3 and linoleic acid-enriched breast muscles. The best inclusion level was 400 vit. C + 10 safflower Oil.

Comparative effects of dietary functional nutrients on growth performance, meat quality, immune responses, and stress biomarkers in broiler chickens raised under heat stress conditions

“…For instance, Vit C can directly function as an antioxidant to protect against lipid peroxidation in immune-related cells [ 13 , 14 ], whereas other functional nutrients may have indirect actions on immune cell proliferation and activity by decreased corticosteroid production, increased immune organ development, and modulated nutrient metabolism [ 12 , 16 , 18 ]. Furthermore, it is also likely that the endogenous synthesis of Vit C in broiler chickens may be impaired or insufficient to satisfy increased requirement of Vit C to potentiate immune responses of broiler chickens exposed to heat stress; this may be the reason why dietary supplementation of 250 mg/kg Vit C exerted the positive effects on immune responses of broiler chickens [ 50 ]. However, it is still uncertain why other functional nutrients did not show such a positive effect as observed by dietary supplementation of Vit C. Therefore, more research is required to compare immune modulations by various functional nutrients in broiler diets under heat stress conditions.…”

Alleviating Effects of Vitamins C and E Supplementation on Oxidative Stress, Hematobiochemical, and Histopathological Alterations Caused by Copper Toxicity in Broiler Chickens

“…The dietary addition of various antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium was efficiently practiced, mitigating oxidative stress in vivo and in animal products [25][26][27][28][29]. Vitamin E is a coating antioxidant that protects the intracellular structures of live organisms.…”

“…It also works to replenish the reduced vitamin E. Vitamin C cannot directly eliminate the lipophilic radicals formed in the membranes, but it reduces the number of tocopheroxyl radicals that adhere to the membrane during the transition of the lipophilic to the aqueous phase [31]. Numerous investigations disclosed good performance with supplementing of vitamins (C and E) in broiler chick diets [12,26,27,32] or fish [25,28,33,34]. Recently, different reports have been reported that vitamins E and C, due to the fact of their role as antioxidants, can protect against toxic infections from xenobiotics and those from minerals, too [35].…”

The Regulatory Network of Sturgeon Chondroitin Sulfate on Colorectal Cancer Inhibition by Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analysis

“…The high dose group (400 μg/g) was 0.11 ± 0.03 mm, which was restored to the level of the normal group (Figure 4D). The depth of colonic crypt is the number of cells in the longitudinal half of each crypt, reflecting the balance between the proliferation and apoptosis of intestinal epithelial cells [32]. Studies have shown that a variety of carcinogens or bacteria can induce the change of crypt depth and destroy the balance.…”