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ABSTRACT: In poultry industry, the strategies for elevating of protein accretion with minimizing fat deposition have been applied, and seaweed algae has been focused one of the potential candidates. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of algae (Ascophllum Nodosum) extract (AE) on the growth performance and body composition of broiler chickens. A total of 240 one-day-old Ross 308 broiler chickens were allotted to 4 dietary treatment groups and fed experimental diets containing different concentrations of AE for 35 d as follows: 0 mg/kg (control, CON), 1,250 mg/kg (LAE), 2,500 mg/kg (MAE), or 5,000 mg/kg (HAE). At the end of the experiment, 40 chickens were sacrificed and samples of their blood, breast muscle, liver, and abdominal fat were collected and analyzed. Growth performance was improved in the LAE group compared to that in the CON (P < 0.05). The weight of abdominal fat was lower in the HAE group than in the CON group (P < 0.05). Serum triglyceride levels were also decreased in the HAE group compared to those in the CON and LAE groups (P < 0.05). Adipocytes were smaller in the HAE group than in all other treatments, and their size distribution was shifted more towards smaller adipocytes compared to those in the LAE group (P < 0.05). Relative mRNA levels in abdominal adipose tissue of fatty acid synthase and stearyl-CoA desaturase, which are involved in fatty acid synthesis, were all downregulated by supplementation with AE (P < 0.05). In addition, the protein levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma were decreased and the ratio of phosphorylated acetyl-CoA carboxylase to total ACC was increased, both of which indicate that lipogenesis was suppressed (P < 0.05). Hepatic transcript levels of sterol regulatory element-binding protein and its downstream enzymes fatty acid synthase and sterol-CoA desaturase were also lower in all AE treatments compared to those in the CON group (P < 0.05). These results indicate that the seaweed algae (Ascophllum Nodosum) extract reduces fat accumulation in both adipose tissue and the liver by modulating lipogenesis.

Upregulation of the nutritional value of feed is the major target of various studies in the livestock industry, and dietary enzyme supplementation could aid in digesting the nondegrading nutrients of grains in feed ingredients. Dried distillers’ grains with solubles (DDGS) is a byproduct of the fermentation process in the beverage industry and can be used as a large supply source of fiber in feed. Therefore, we conducted an experiment with male broiler chickens to investigate the effect of various types of enzymes on DDGS and compare the efficacy of single enzyme and multienzyme complexes on growth performance and gut environments in broiler chickens. We used 420 1-day-old broiler chickens (Ross 308), and they were allotted into 4 dietary treatments with seven replications (CON, corn-soybean meal [SBM] diet; NC, DDGS supplemented diet; SE, 0.05 % of mannanase supplemented DDGS-based diet; MC, 0.10% of multienzyme complex (mannanase and xylanase, glucanase) supplemented DDGS-based diet. The dietary exogenous enzyme in the DDGS-supplemented diet could improve growth performance as much as the growth of the control group, and digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, and gross energy were significantly increased by enzyme addition in groups of chicks fed DDGS-supplementation diet. Moreover, the populations of pathogenic bacteria, coliforms, and Bacteroidetes were significantly decreased by enzyme supplementation, which might lead to improved gut mucus-secreting cells and inflammatory cytokines in the jejunum. Collectively, dietary single enzyme and multienzyme complexes could improve gut environments, including intestinal immune responses and gut microbial population, and lead to improvement of growth performance in broiler chickens.