Effects of compound organic acid calcium on growth performance, hepatic antioxidation and intestinal barrier of male broilers under heat stress

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of compound organic acid calcium (COAC) on growth performance, hepatic antioxidant status and intestinal barrier of male broilers under high ambient temperature (32.7°C).Methods: Nine hundred healthy one-d-old Cobb-500 male broiler chicks were randomly assigned into three groups with six replicates of 50 birds each. A basal diet supplemented with 0% (control), 0.4% and 0.8% COAC, respectively were fed to birds for 6 weeks. All treatments were under high ambient indoor temperature of 32.7°C, and had a constant calcium and available phosphorus ratio.Results: The results showed that, compared with control, the average daily gain of broilers in 0.4% and 0.8% was significantly increased and the ratio of feed to gain in in 0.4% and 0.8% was significantly decreased at 1 to 21, 22 to 42 and 1 to 42 days of age (p<0.05). Compared with control, 0.8% COAC slightly decreased (p = 0.093) the content of malondialdehyde in liver at 42 days of age while 0.4% COAC significantly decreased (p<0.05) the activity of alkaline phosphatase. Furthermore, 0.4% COAC significantly enhanced the intestinal barrier function via increasing jejunal and ileal ocln transcription, promoting jejunal mucin 2 transcription at 42 days of age (p<0.05), and decreasing jejunal toll-like receptor 2 (TLR-2) and ileal TLR-15, inducible nitric oxide synthase compared with control group (p<0.05). Whereas, no significant differences on the transcription of interleukin-1β in jejunum and ileum were observed among three treatments (p>0.05). Overall, heat stress caused by high natural environment temperature may induce the damage to hepatic antioxidation and intestinal barrier.Conclusion: Dietary inclusion of COAC can improve the tolerance of broilers to thermal environment through the modification of antioxidative parameters in liver and the mRNA expression of genes in intestinal barrier, resulting in an optimal inclusion level of 0.4%.

Effect of Vitamin C and Probiotics on Broilers Performance and Claudin-2 (CLDN-2) Expression Under Heat Stress [RESEARCH NOTE]

“…In this study, HS increased the CLDN-2 gene expression in the broiler's jejunum. These results were in agreement with the results of He et al (2020) which stated that HS increased the expression of some CLDN gens families. Heat stress can disturb the balance of ROS production and the antioxidant system in broilers.…”

Supplementation with paraformic acid in the diet improved intestinal development through modulating intestinal inflammation and microbiota in broiler chickens

“…It was also reported that organic acids (mainly containing FA, formate ammonia, propionate, acetate, and lactate) supplementation enhanced duodenal TJPs (including ZO-1 and CLDN2 ) in broilers ( Ma et al, 2021 ). A compound acidifier blend of calcium formate, calcium citrate and calcium lactate with 7:2:1 ratio could increase the expressions of MUC2 , OCLN , and CLDN3 in jejunal mucosa of broilers ( He et al, 2020 ). Above all, dietary PFA supplementation could promote small intestinal development through improving intestinal morphology and barrier integrity.…”

Effects of dietary flavonoids on performance, blood constituents, carcass composition and small intestinal morphology of broilers: a meta-analysis

“…However, the lack of antibiotic use in broiler production, especially in tropical countries, may potentially interfere with performance and tend to increase death rates among broilers because of their diminished health status [2]. Broiler production in the tropics faces greater obstacles than in sub-tropical or temperate regions, such as lower growth performance, depressed immune systems, low carcass quality and high mortality rates due to the higher temperatures and humidity, which lead to an enhanced heat stress response [3][4][5]. Some of the alternatives to antibiotics to overcome such problems are plant secondary metabolites such as tannins, flavonoids, saponins and essential oils [6].…”