Epigallocatechin-3-gallate prevents lipid peroxidation and enhances antioxidant defense system via modulating hepatic nuclear transcription factors in heat-stressed quails

Abstract

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a polyphenol derived from green tea, exerts antioxidant effects. Oxidative stress is one of the consequences of heat stress (HS), which also depresses performance in poultry. This experiment was conducted to elucidate the action mode of EGCG in alleviation of oxidative stress in heat-stressed quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica). A total of 180 five-week-old female Japanese quails were reared either at 22°C for 24 h/d (thermoneutral, TN) or 34°C for 8 h/d (HS) for 12 wk. Birds in both environments were randomly fed 1 of 3 diets: basal diet and basal diet added with 200 or 400 mg of EGCG/kg of diet. Each of the 2×3 factorially arranged groups was replicated in 10 cages, each containing 3 quails. Performance variables [feed intake (FI) and egg production (EP)], oxidative stress biomarkers [malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px)] and hepatic transcription factors [nuclear factor κ-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) and nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2)] were analyzed using 2-way ANOVA. Exposure to HS caused reductions in FI by 9.7% and EP by 14.4%, increased hepatic MDA level by 84.8%, and decreased hepatic SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px activities by 25.8, 52.3, and 45.5%, respectively (P<0.0001 for all). The hepatic NF-κB expression was greater (156 vs. 82%) and Nrf2 expression was lower (84 vs. 118%) for quails reared under the HS environment than for those reared under the TN environment (P<0.0001 for both). In response to increasing supplemental EGCG level, there were linear increases in FI from 29.6 to 30.9 g/d and EP from 84.3 to 90.1%/d, linear decreases in hepatic MDA level from 2.82 to 1.72 nmol/g and Nrf2 expression from 77.5 to 123.3%, and linear increases in hepatic SOD (146.4 to 182.2), CAT (36.2 to 47.1), and GSH-Px (13.5 to 18.5) activities (U/mg of protein) and NF-κB expression (149.7 to 87.3%) (P<0.0001 for all). Two-way treatment interactions revealed that the degree of restorations in all response variables was more notable under the HS environment than under the TN environment as supplemental EGCG level was increased. Moreover, levels of oxidative biomarkers were strongly correlated with expressions of hepatic nuclear transcription factors. In conclusion, supplemental EGCG alleviates oxidative stress through modulating the hepatic nuclear transcription factors in heat-stressed quails.

Antioxidant status of blood and liver of turkeys fed diets enriched with polyunsaturated fatty acids and fruit pomaces as a source of polyphenols

“…Very few studies have been conducted on poultry, and they produced inconsistent results regarding the direction and range of the antioxidant effects of polyphenols in birds. Jiang et al (2007) reported that dietary isoflavones from soybean increase SOD activity and decreased plasma TBARS levels in broiler chickens, whereas other authors demonstrated that dietary supplementation with purified flavonoids increased only blood vitamin E concentrations in Japanese quails (Sahin et al 2010). In another experiment, an increase in GSH-Px activity and a tendency towards higher levels of SOD activity were not accompanied by changes in the FRAP or TBARS values in the blood of broilers (Vossen et al 2011).…”

“…Jiang et al (2007) reported a dose-dependent increase in plasma total antioxidant activity of broilers whose diets were supplemented with 10 to 80 mg/kg of soy flavonoids. An improvement in plasma antioxidant parameters, including total antioxidant activity and MDA concentrations, was reported when broiler diets were supplemented with grape-derived resveratrol (Sahin et al 2010), rosemary, green tea and grape seed extracts (Vossen et al 2011), and purified genistein and hesperidin (Kamboh and Zhu 2013). Similar results were noted in our study where the addition of fruit pomaces, in particular seedless strawberry pomace, improved selected parameters of antioxidant status in the blood plasma, including an increase in vitamin C levels, catalase activity, capacity of hydrophilic and lipophilic fractions, and FRAP values, and a decrease in plasma peroxide levels and TBARS values in turkey livers.…”

“…Research results indicate that plant polyphenols could be a new source of antioxidants in animal diets (Brenes et al, 2010, Sahin et al 2010, Kamboh and Zhu 2013. The dietary grape seed extract has been found to contribute to and modulate the antioxidant activity of broiler chicken diets and excreta (Brenes et al 2010).…”

“…The dietary grape seed extract has been found to contribute to and modulate the antioxidant activity of broiler chicken diets and excreta (Brenes et al 2010). Diet supplementation with purified polyphenols increased vitamin E concentrations and decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in the blood serum of Japanese quails (Sahin et al 2010) and broiler chickens (Kamboh and Zhu 2013).…”

Influence of catechin (flavan-3-ol) addition to breeder quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) diets on productivity, reproductive performance, egg quality and yolk oxidative stability

“…Current studies informed that green tea catechins, the main components of green tea leaf, have many physiological and biochemical functions, including antioxidant (radical and oxidant scavenging, metal chelating, and inhibition of pro-oxidant enzymes), antimicrobial, anticarcinogenic, hypoallergic and blood glucose reduction in studies on different animal species (Frei & Higdon 2003;Koo & Cho 2004;Zhong et al 2009;Ariana et al 2011;Kara & Guclu 2012). The studies carried out on hens and quail emphasized especially the antioxidation effect on the blood and the animal products (meat and egg) and also on performance (Tang et al 2000;Biswas et al 2000;Abdo et al 2010;Sahin et al 2010;Ariana et al 2011). The change in performance parameters such as live weight, feed intake, egg production, and feed efficiency was not observed in some studies which used green tea leaves or extracts (Biswas et al 2000;Biswas & Wakita 2001;Ariana et al 2011) as corresponding with results of the present study, and despite that in some studies these parameters had a negative effect (Uuganbayar et al 2006;Kojima & Yosida 2008;Sarker et al 2010).…”