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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1453145
This article is part of the Research Topic Gut Microbiota Modulation to Mitigate Stress-Induced Functional Changes View all articles

The impact of dietary supplementation of Quercetagetin on growth, antioxidant capacity, and gut microbiota of Diquat-Challenged Broilers

Provisionally accepted
Shuo Yang Shuo Yang Min Huo Min Huo *Zixuan Su Zixuan Su *Fangfang Wang Fangfang Wang *Yongying Zhang Yongying Zhang *Cuihong Zhong Cuihong Zhong *Yuxiang Shi Yuxiang Shi *
  • College of Life Sciences and Food Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This experiment aimed to investigate the effects of Quercetagetin (QG) on the growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and cecal microbiota of broilers. Two hundred and forty 21-day-old WOD168 broilers with similar body weights were randomly divided into five groups of six replicates each with eight chickens. The control group was fed a basal diet composed of corn and soybean meal, while the experimental groups received basal diets supplemented with 0, 10, 20, and 40 mg/kg QG, along with intraperitoneal injection of 20 mg/kg body weight Diquat (DQ). The experiment lasted for 21 days.The results showed that: 1) QG significantly alleviated the decrease in average daily feed intake and average daily gain induced by Diquat, reduced the elevation of serum ACTH content, and significantly increased GH content (P<0.05); 2) QG supplementation significantly mitigated the decrease in serum CAT activity and duodenal GSH-Px activity induced by Diquat (P<0.05), as well as the increase in MDA content (P<0.05); additionally, QG significantly increased the gene expression levels of GSH-Px, Nrf2, and Keap1 (P<0.05); 3) Alpha and Beta diversity analysis revealed that QG supplementation significantly increased the cecal microbial OTUs and Chao1 index of broilers (P<0.05). At the phylum level, compared with the Diquat group, the LQG group significantly decreased the relative abundance of Firmicutes (P<0.05) and significantly increased the relative abundance of Bacteroidota (P<0.05). At the genus level, compared with the CON group, the Diquat group significantly decreased the abundance of Lactobacillus and Alistipes (P<0.05), while QG supplementation significantly alleviated the decrease in the abundance of Lactobacillus and Alistipes (P<0.05). In conclusion, the addition of an appropriate amount (20 mg/kg) of QG to the diet can promote the growth of broilers, enhance antioxidant capacity, and improve intestinal health.

    Keywords: Quercetagetin, broilers, growth performance, antioxidant capacity, microbial community

    Received: 22 Jun 2024; Accepted: 04 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yang, Huo, Su, Wang, Zhang, Zhong and Shi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Min Huo, College of Life Sciences and Food Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, China
    Zixuan Su, College of Life Sciences and Food Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, China
    Fangfang Wang, College of Life Sciences and Food Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, China
    Yongying Zhang, College of Life Sciences and Food Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, China
    Cuihong Zhong, College of Life Sciences and Food Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, China
    Yuxiang Shi, College of Life Sciences and Food Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, China

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