AUTHOR=Ren Xiaojie , Yuan Peng , Niu Jiaxing , Liu Yang , Li Yang , Huang Libo , Jiang Shuzhen , Jiao Ning , Yuan Xuejun , Li Junxun , Yang Weiren 

TITLE=Effects of dietary supplementation with microencapsulated Galla chinensis tannins on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and lipid metabolism of young broiler chickens

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2023.1259142

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2023.1259142

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=<p>This study aimed to investigate the impacts of dietary supplementation with <italic>Galla chinensis</italic> tannins (GCT) on the growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and lipid metabolism of young broilers. Overall, a total of 216 healthy 1 day-old broilers were randomly allocated to CON group and GCT group, and provided with a basal diet or a basal diet added with 300 mg/kg microencapsulated GCT, respectively, in a 21 days trial. Our findings indicated that dietary GCT addition had no significant effects (<italic>p</italic> &gt; 0.05) on growth performance. However, GCT supplementation led to a significant reduction in the total cholesterol (TC) concentration in the serum and liver (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05). Furthermore, GCT supplementation significantly increased the ratios of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) to low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and HDL to TC in the serum, in addition to elevating the activities of enzymes related to lipid metabolism in the liver (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05). Dietary GCT addition also improved the antioxidant capacity of the broilers, as evidenced by a significant decrease in the concentration of malondialdehyde in serum and liver (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05). Additionally, the GCT group exhibited significantly increased expressions of hepatic genes associated with antioxidant enzymes (<italic>HO-1</italic>, <italic>GPX1</italic>, <italic>SOD2</italic>, <italic>SIRT1</italic>, <italic>CPT-1</italic>, and <italic>PPARα</italic>) (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05), while the mRNA expression of <italic>SREBP-1</italic> was significantly decreased (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05) compared with the CON group. In conclusion, dietary addition of 300 mg/kg microencapsulated GCT improved the antioxidant status and lipid metabolism of broilers without affecting their growth performance.</p>