Propolis alleviates the negative effects of heat stress on egg production, egg quality, physiological and immunological aspects of laying Japanese quail

Abstract

The present work was carried out to investigate the effects of dietary propolis supplementation to laying Japanese quail ( Coturnix coturnix japonica ) on egg production, egg quality, physiological and immunological aspects under heat stress conditions. A total of 200, 21-day-old, Japanese quail females were distributed equally into standard wired cages in two identical environmentally-controlled rooms (10 cages per room, 10 birds per cage). From 29–70 d of age, the quail birds in the first room remained at a normal temperature of 24°C (C group), whereas the quail birds in the second room were kept under heat stress at 35°C (HS group). Each group was further assigned to 2 propolis subgroups (5 cages per subgroup); one of them received a basal diet without propolis supplementation (-PR subgroup), while, the other received 1 g propolis/ kg basal diet (+PR subgroup). In the present study, performance and egg production of laying quail were significantly (P<0.001) impaired by HS treatment and improved by the PR treatment. Similarly, the negative and positive effects of HS and PR, respectively, were appeared on the egg shell thickness and yolk index. Stress indicators in laying quail were significantly (P<0.001) increased by HS, while, PR significantly (P<0.05) moderated these levels in the HS+PR group when compared to the HS-PR quail group. In addition to the positive impact of PR on the plasma levels of calcium, phosphorus, and albumin, it also normalized the plasma levels of alanine aminotransferase and cholesterol in the heat-stressed quail birds. Moreover, the quail birds in the HS groups expressed lower immunological aspects than those in the C group, while, the addition of propolis to the diets enhanced the immune status of laying quail birds under HS conditions. These results strongly suggest that dietary propolis supplementation could be a successful attempt to maintain the performance and egg production of laying Japanese quail at convenient levels under heat stress conditions.

Modulating Laying Hens Productivity and Immune Performance in Response to Oxidative Stress Induced by E. coli Challenge Using Dietary Propolis Supplementation

“…da Rosa et al [ 49 ] reported that the negative effect of E. coli infection on chicken growth performance was mediated by oxidative stress indicated with remarkable elevation in serum and hepatic ROS formation. On the other hand, propolis supplementation was reported to improve egg production quantitatively and qualitatively in laying Japanese quail subjected to heat induced oxidative stress [ 34 ]. The improvement in egg production with propolis supplementation may be justified by its antioxidant [ 50 ] and antimicrobial activities [ 51 ].…”

“…The stimulating index (SI) of T- and B-lymphocyte proliferation was calculated according to Mehaisen et al [ 34 ]. The method, in brief, started with washing PBMCs ( n = 10; 2 samples per replicate) in RPMI 1640 culture medium and viable lymphocytes were detected (using Trypan Blue dye; cat# T8154, Sigma-Aldrich, St. Luis, MO, USA).…”

“…PR extraction and its derivative reported to have antioxidant [ 27 ], antimicrobial [ 28 ], anti-inflammatory [ 29 , 30 ] and cytotoxic [ 30 ] activities. In poultry, PR has been recently used for its antioxidant, antimicrobial and growth promoting ability [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ]. However, the interactions among in vivo antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammation and immune-modulation effects of PR specially regulating cell death program of immune cells and T and B lymphocyte proliferation under endotoxin stress have not been fully investigated.…”

Responses of broiler chicken to different oil levels within constant energy levels from 20 to 40 days of age under hot weather conditions

“…Besides, HS adversely affects nutrient digestibility, inducing metabolic disturbance reflected in blood and transport mechanisms and, thus, altered deposition in the tissue (Sahin et al 2009;. Besides, HS increases the production of free radicals, hence inducing oxidative damages (Attia et al 2009;Yang et al 2010), adversely impacting immunological mechanisms (Mehaisen et al 2019) and decreasing bursa, spleen, and thymus yield (Fouad et al 2016).…”

Impact of Manipulating Quail Eggs with Betaine During Early Embryogenesis on Chick Development, Hatchability, Hematological Variables, and Some Physiological Estimates

“…An ine cient heat impairs functionality of the physiological, immunological aspects and organs of quails which negatively in uencing the hatchability (Abuoghaba et al, 2021). Therefore, several attempts to attenuate and alleviate the detrimental in uences of heat stress on quails performance (Gholami et al, 2015;Mehaisen et al, 2017;Mehaisen et al, 2019).…”