Effects of Sea-Buckthorn Flavonoids on Growth Performance, Serum Inflammation, Intestinal Barrier and Microbiota in LPS-Challenged Broilers.

Simple Summary: High-density intensive farming easily induces immune stress in broilers, leading to significant impairment of growth performance and intestinal health. Sea-buckthorn flavone (SF), extracted from the fruits, leaves, and branches of sea buckthorn, exhibits anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, liver protective, and lipid metabolism-regulating properties. This study examined the effects of SF on growth performance, serum inflammation, the intestinal barrier, and the microbiota in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-challenged broilers. Our findings demonstrate that SF alleviates LPS-induced inflammatory responses in broilers while improving intestinal health and enhancing growth performance. These findings serve as a valuable reference for poultry production. The experiment investigated the effects of sea-buckthorn flavonoids (SF) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-challenged broilers. A total of 288 one-day-old male broilers were randomly assigned to 4 groups, with 6 replicates of 12 broilers each. The experiment lasted for 20 days. The diet included two levels of SF (0 or 1000 mg/kg) and broilers intraperitoneally injected with 500 μg/kg LPS on 16, 18, and 20 days, or an equal amount of saline. LPS challenge decreased final body weight, average daily gain, and average daily feed intake, increased feed-to-gain ratio, and elevated serum IL-1β, IL-2, TNF-α, D-LA, and endotoxin levels. Moreover, it resulted in a reduction in the IL-10 level. LPS impaired the intestinal morphology of the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, down-regulated the mRNA relative expression of Occludin, ZO-1, and MUC-2 in the jejunum mucosa, up-regulated the mRNA relative expression of TLR4, MyD88, NF-κB, and IL-1β, and increased the relative abundance of Erysipelatoclostridium in broilers (p < 0.05). However, SF supplementation mitigated the decrease in growth performance, reduced serum IL-1β, IL-2, and D-LA levels, increased IL-10 levels, alleviated intestinal morphological damage, up-regulated mRNA expression of Occludin and ZO-1, down-regulated the mRNA expression of TLR4, NF-κB, and IL-lβ in jejunum mucosal (p < 0.05), and SF supplementation presented a tendency to decrease the relative abundance of proteobacteria (0.05 < p < 0.1). Collectively, incorporating SF can enhance the growth performance, alleviate serum inflammation, and improve the intestinal health of broilers, effectively mitigating the damage triggered by LPS-challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]