Thymol in the intestinal tract of broiler chickens after sustained administration of thyme essential oil in feed

Abstract

Plant compounds occurring in phytogenic feed additives are involved in different pharmacological activities in the animal organism. Since the digestive tract acts as a first line of defence against foreign compounds, it is necessary to outline its response to dietary supplementation with bioactive plant components. Little information is available on the bioactivity of thymol as the main bioactive compound of Thymus vulgaris L. essential oil (TEO). The main objective of the present study was to provide a detailed view of the concentrations of thymol in plasma and the content of individual intestinal segments (duodenum, jejunum, ileum, caecum and colon) of broiler chickens after 4 weeks of dietary supplementation with different TEO concentrations. 32 one‐day old Ross 308 hybrid broilers were randomly divided into four dietary treatment groups (0.00%, 0.01%, 0.05%, 0.1% w/w of TEO in the diet). Thymol concentrations in the duodenal chyme presented around 7% on average from the thymol amount administered in the feed. A significantly increased thymol amount was observed after 0.1% TEO addition to the diet compared with 0.01% TEO enrichment in the duodenal wall and gut content of jejunum, ileum, caecum and colon (p < 0.05). Thymol levels in the colon were significantly higher than in the ileum and about 1.7 times higher on average than those in the caecum. Significant coefficient of correlation was observed between thymol concentrations in plasma and feed, gut content of all intestinal segments as well as duodenal wall. Our results point to intensive thymol absorption in the initial sections of the digestive tract. In the current study, the role of intestine in biotransformation of thymol was observed, and it would be desirable to investigate whether thymol itself or thymol metabolites are responsible for beneficial effects in intestine.

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of thyme (Thymus vulgaris) essential oil as an alternative for antibiotic in quail diet1

“…This variability may be due to the basal diet formulation, environment condition, the application dosage of the TVE, and the type of the selected bird (broiler, hen layer, quail, etc.). For example, performance parameters in broilers received 0.01%, 0.05%, 0.1% (w/w) thyme essential oils were not influenced significantly (Oceľová et al, 2018), while the quail fed on 1 g/kg of thyme oil showed greater BWG related to control (Khaksar et al, 2012). Similar to our results, the effects of 60, 100, and 200 mg/kg thymol and carvacrol combination were examined on broiler chicks and revealed that FI reduced linearly, while the birds received 200 mg/kg of this combination received the greatest BWG and feed efficiency (Hashemipour et al, 2013b).…”

“…The effects of thyme and its active compound thymol on poultry performance parameters have been reported in current research publications and variable results observed (Hoffman-Pennesi and Wu, 2010;Khaksar et al, 2012;Mehdipour et al, 2014;Oceľová et al, 2018). This variability may be due to the basal diet formulation, environment condition, the application dosage of the TVE, and the type of the selected bird (broiler, hen layer, quail, etc.).…”

Effect of Thymol Addition and Withdrawal on Some Blood Parameters, Antioxidative Defence System and Fatty Acid Profile in Rabbit Muscle

“…Another molecule can be transported through the basolateral membrane of enterocytes directly to the blood circulation. All these processes play a crucial role in affecting the thymol concentration in blood [ 7 ].…”

“…The mode of action of herbs and plant extracts and the details about the accumulation of phenolic substances in animal tissues are not known or not completely understood [ 7 , 8 ]. In general, the bioavailability of dietary compounds depends on their digestive stability and the efficiency of their transepithelial passage [ 9 ].…”

“…Oceľová et al [ 10 ] were the first who analysed the thymol concentrations in individual intestinal segments in hens. Sufficient absorption of thymol from the digestive tract and its transport by systemic circulation to tissues in broiler chickens after four weeks of thyme essential oil application were demonstrated by Oceľová et al [ 7 ]. Placha et al [ 2 ] pointed to the sparing effect of thymol against oxidative deterioration of the antioxidant defence system in poultry after sustained thyme oil dietary application at 0.05% (thymol content 248.97 mg/kg dry matter (DM)) and 0.1% (thymol content 460.22 mg/kg DM) concentrations.…”