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Journal Article Epublish 13 citations

PubMed: 37667318 DOI: 10.1186/s40104-023-00904-6

Rosemary extract improves egg quality by altering gut barrier function, intestinal microbiota and oviductal gene expressions in late-phase laying hens.

J Anim Sci Biotechnol 14(1):121

Authors: Lianhua Zhang, Junwei Ge, Fei Gao, Min Yang, Hui Li, Fei Xia, Hongtong Bai, Xiangshu Piao, Zhiying Sun, Lei Shi

Affiliations

  • Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China. China National Botanical Garden, Beijing, 100093, China.
  • Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China.
  • China National Botanical Garden, Beijing, 100093, China.
  • College of Pharmacy, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, 250355, China.
  • Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China. China National Botanical Garden, Beijing, 100093, China. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
  • Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China. China National Botanical Garden, Beijing, 100093, China. College of Pharmacy, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, 250355, China.
  • State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
  • College of Pharmacy, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, 250355, China.
  • Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China. China National Botanical Garden, Beijing, 100093, China.

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Rosemary extract (RE) has been reported to exert antioxidant property. However, the application of RE in late-phase laying hens on egg quality, intestinal barrier and microbiota, and oviductal function has not been systematically studied. This study was investigated to detect the potential effects of RE on performance, egg quality, serum parameters, intestinal heath, cecal microbiota and metabolism, and oviductal gene expressions in late-phase laying hens. A total of 210 65-week-old "Jing Tint 6" laying hens were randomly allocated into five treatments with six replicates and seven birds per replicate and fed basal diet (CON) or basal diet supplemented with chlortetracycline at 50 mg/kg (CTC) or RE at 50 mg/kg (RE50), 100 mg/kg (RE100), and 200 mg/kg (RE200).

RESULTS

Our results showed that RE200 improved (P < 0.05) Haugh unit and n-6/n-3 of egg yolk, serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) compared with CON. No significant differences were observed for Haugh unit and n-6/n-3 of egg yolk among CTC, RE50, RE100 and RE200 groups. Compared with CTC and RE50 groups, RE200 increased serum SOD activity on d 28 and 56. Compared with CON, RE supplementation decreased (P < 0.05) total cholesterol (TC) level. CTC, RE100 and RE200 decreased (P < 0.05) serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) content compared with CON. CTC and RE200 increased jejunal mRNA expression of ZO-1 and Occludin compared with CON. The biomarkers of cecal microbiota and metabolite induced by RE 200, including Firmicutes, Eisenbergiella, Paraprevotella, Papillibacter, and butyrate, were closely associated with Haugh unit, n-6/n-3, SOD, IL-6, and TC. PICRUSt2 analysis indicated that RE altered carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism of cecal microbiota and increased butyrate synthesizing enzymes, including 3-oxoacid CoA-transferase and butyrate-acetoacetate CoA-transferase. Moreover, transcriptomic analysis revealed that RE200 improved gene expressions and functional pathways related to immunity and albumen formation in the oviductal magnum.

CONCLUSIONS

Dietary supplementation with 200 mg/kg RE could increase egg quality of late-phase laying hens via modulating intestinal barrier, cecal microbiota and metabolism, and oviductal function. Overall, RE could be used as a promising feed additive to improve egg quality of laying hens at late stage of production.

MeSH

Genes, Serum, Interleukin-6, Transferases, Egg Yolk, Ovum, Diet, Microbiota, Gene Expression

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