Protective effects of lycopene on mitochondrial oxidative injury and dysfunction in the liver of aflatoxin B1-exposed broilers.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of lycopene (LYC) on mitochondrial oxidative injury and dysfunction in the liver of aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1)-exposed broilers. A total of 192 healthy 1-day-old male broilers were randomly divided into 3 groups with 8 replicates of 8 birds each. Birds in the 3 groups were fed basal diet (control), basal diet with 100 µg/kg AFB 1 , and basal diet with 100 µg/kg AFB 1 and 200 mg/kg LYC, respectively. The experiment lasted 42 d. The results showed that AFB 1 decreased average daily body weight gain (ADG), average daily feed intake, and gain to feed ratio (G :F) compared to the control group, the LYC supplementation increased ADG and G/F compared to AFB 1 group (P < 0.05). Broilers in the AFB 1 group had lower mitochondrial glutathione (mGSH) concentration and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), and thioredoxin reductase activities, and higher hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) concentrations than the control group (P < 0.05). The LYC increased mGSH concentration and GSH-Px and MnSOD activities, and decreased H 2 O 2 and ROS concentrations compared to AFB 1 group (P < 0.05). Broilers fed the AFB 1 diet showed increased mitochondrial swelling and decreased adenosine triphosphate concentration than the control group, and LYC had opposite effects (P < 0.05). The AFB 1 decreased the activities of mitochondrial electron transfer chain (ETC) complexes I, II, III, and V, downregulated the mRNA expression levels of hepatic MnSOD, thioredoxin 2, thioredoxin reductase, peroxiredoxin-3, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α, nuclear respiratory factor 1 , and mitochondrial transcription factor A compared with the control group (P < 0.05), and LYC increased activities of mitochondrial ETC complexes III and V, and upregulated mRNA expression levels of these genes in comparison to AFB 1 group (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the LYC protected broilers from AFB 1 -induced liver mitochondrial oxidative injury and dysfunction by stimulating mitochondrial antioxidant capacity and maintaining mitochondrial biogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]