Effects of Supplementation with Dried Neem Leaf Extract on Lipid Peroxidation and Antioxidant Enzyme mRNA Expression in the Pectoralis Major Muscle of Broiler Chickens

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of dried neem (Azadirachta indica) leaf extract (DNE) on lipid peroxidation and the expression of genes encoding mRNAs in antioxidant enzymes in the pectoralis major muscle of chickens. A total of 24 male broiler chickens (ROSS308) were divided into three groups (n = 8) at 21 days of age. The control group of chickens was fed a basal diet, and the remaining two groups of chickens were fed a basal diet supplemented with DNE at a concentration of 0.5% or 2.0% until 35 days of age. Growth performance (body weight, weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio) and tissue weights did not differ among the three groups. The 2.0% DNE-supplemented diet decreased the muscle malondialdehyde content, a marker of lipid peroxidation, and drip loss compared to the control chickens. In addition, the expression of genes encoding mRNAs of antioxidant enzymes (i.e., Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase, Mn-superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase 7, and catalase) were higher in the pectoralis major muscle of chickens fed the 2.0% DNE-supplemented diet than in the control chickens.Therefore, DNE supplementation increased the expression of genes encoding mRNAs in antioxidant enzymes and reduced lipid peroxidation and drip loss in the pectoralis major muscle of broiler chickens.

Effects of a Dried Neem Leaf Extract on the Growth Performance, Meat Yield and Meat Quality in Skeletal Muscle of Broiler Chickens Under High-Temperature Conditions

“…In addition, it ameliorated the negative effects of the cyclical HT. This might be explained by the high free radicalscavenging activity of the DNE (Nakamura et al, 2022). In our previous study, we found that dietary supplementation with 2.0% of DNE significantly increased the expression of genes encoding antioxidant enzymes and reduced the MDA concentration in the breast muscle of broiler chickens kept under thermo-neutral temperature (Nakamura et al, 2022).…”

“…This might be explained by the high free radicalscavenging activity of the DNE (Nakamura et al, 2022). In our previous study, we found that dietary supplementation with 2.0% of DNE significantly increased the expression of genes encoding antioxidant enzymes and reduced the MDA concentration in the breast muscle of broiler chickens kept under thermo-neutral temperature (Nakamura et al, 2022). Consistent with this, in the present study, the MDA concentration was higher in the breast muscle of chickens kept under cyclical HT conditions than in that of chickens kept under thermoneutral conditions (Table 3).…”

“…They were fed either the basal diet or the basal diet supplemented with 2.0% DNE, and exposed to either a thermoneutral environment (25 ± 1°C) or an HT environment (35 ± 1°C). DNE was prepared according to a method previously described (Nakamura et al, 2022). The experiment was conducted in a temperature-controlled room under 23 hours of light and 1 hour of darkness and at 50%-70% relative humidity.…”

“…Furthermore, Neem leaves have high antioxidant activities (Prakash et al, 2007;Heyman et al, 2017) due to high concentration of phenolic compounds, such as gallic acids and ferulic acids (Singh et al, 2005;Shewale and Rathod, 2018). In a previous study, we showed that dietary supplementation with an aqueous extract of dried neem leaves (DNE) at 2.0% increased the expression of genes encoding Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase, Mn superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase 7, and catalase, and consequently reduced the drip loss and muscle lipid peroxidation of broiler chicken muscle (Nakamura et al, 2022).…”

The Interaction between Feed Bioactive Compounds and Chicken Genome

“…It should be, however, emphasized that fresh neem leaves can negatively affect broiler growth due to their high crude fiber content [29], because of which it is necessary to add them in the form of a dry leaf extract. The results of Nakamura et al (2022) [30] showed that the addition of 2.0% neem dry extract to broiler feed increased the expression of genes important for the activity of antioxidant enzymes in the breast muscle (Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase-SOD1, Mn superoxidase-MnSOD, glutathione peroxidase 7-GPX 7 and catalase-CAT). Furthermore, the authors showed that the addition of the neem to broiler feed reduces lipid peroxidation and water losses in m. pectoralis major muscle.…”