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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1550776
This article is part of the Research Topic Natural Compounds/Products and Livestock Productivity: Enhancing Antioxidant Levels, Gut Health, Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Disease Control View all 28 articles
Dietary supplementation with antibacterial peptide microcin J25 improved antioxidant capacity and intestinal health of pigeons
Provisionally accepted
Heng Cao 1 Yinglin Lu 1 Xingyu Zhang 1 Fan Li 1 Ming Li 2 Jing Zhou 1 Huiting He 1 Qing Ma 1
Minli Yu 1*- 1 Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
- 2 Nanjing Institute of Animal Husbandry and Poultry Science, Nanjing, China
To evaluate the potential of antimicrobial peptide microcin J25 (MccJ25) as a feed additive for pigeons, a total of 28-day-old pigeons were allocated to four groups and fed a basal diet (CON) or a basal diet supplemented with 100, 200, or 300 mg/kg MccJ25 (ABP100, ABP200, ABP300) for 8 weeks. Dietary MccJ25 supplementation significantly improved survival rates in the ABP200 group compared to the control (p < 0.05). Serum analysis revealed that ABP200 and ABP300 groups exhibited increased levels of total protein (TP), globulin (GLB), immunoglobulin A (IgA), and immunoglobulin G (IgG), alongside reduced aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total cholesterol (TC), and triglyceride (TG) concentrations (p < 0.05). Furthermore, MccJ25 supplementation enhanced duodenal maltase and trypsin activity (p < 0.05)and upregulated intestinal and hepatic antioxidant capacity, as evidenced by elevated glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity (p < 0.05). Intestinal morphology improvements were observed in the jejunum and ileum, with increased villus height-to-crypt depth ratios (VH/CD) (p < 0.05). Additionally, ABP200 and ABP300 groups demonstrated significant upregulation of intestinal barrier-related genes occludin (OCLN), claudin 1 (CLDN1), zonula occluden protein 1 (ZO1), mucin 2 (MUC2), superoxide dismutase 1, 2 (SOD1, 2), and catalase (CAT) in duodenum (p < 0.05). These findings indicate that MccJ25 supplementation improves systemic metabolism, enhances antioxidant defenses, strengthens intestinal barrier integrity, and ultimately promotes pigeon health and survival. This study supports the application of MccJ25 as a functional feed additive in poultry production.
Keywords: antioxidant capacity, Biochemical function, feed additive, Microcin J25, pigeon
Received: 24 Dec 2024; Accepted: 07 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cao, Lu, Zhang, Li, Li, Zhou, He, Ma and Yu. 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:
Minli Yu, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
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