Effect of Supplementation with Glycyrrhiza uralensis Extract, Lactobacillus acidophilus and their Combination on Immune and Antioxidant Functions in Broilers (Gallus gallus)
LI Xi-Mei1, LI Jia-Wei1, HE Nai-Fei1, TIAN Jia-Min1, XU Lin-Na2, CHEN Yan1, JIANG Su-Su1, ZHANG Guo-Hua1,*, LU Jian-Xiong1,*
1 School of Life Science and Engineering, Northwest Minzu University, Lanzhou 730124, China; 2 Gansu Provincial Animal Husbandry Technology Popularization Station, Lanzhou 730030, China
Abstract：Enhancing the immunity and antioxidant capacity is a critical issue that urgently needs to be addressed in modern broiler production. Medicinal plants and probiotics exhibit anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory properties. This experiment aimed to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation with Glycyrrhiza uralensis extract (GUE), Lactobacillus acidophilus (Lac) and their combination on immune and antioxidant functions of broilers (Gallus gallus). A total of 420 one-day-old male Liangfenghua broilers were randomly assigned to 4 groups each with 7 replicates, and 15 broilers per replicate. The broilers were fed a basal diet (Con group), a basal diet with 0.1% GUE supplementation (GUE group), basal diet with 1.5% Lac supplementation (Lac group), and basal diet with 0.1% GUE and 1.5% Lac supplementation (GUE+Lac group), respectively. The experiment lasted for 84 d. The results were as follows: 1) Compared with the Con group, the activities of serum, jejunum and liver superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) of broilers in the supplementation groups were significantly increased (P<0.05), while the malondialdehyde (MDA) content was decreased (P<0.05); 2) The serum immunoglobulin A (IgA) and immunoglobulin G (IgG), jejunum villus height, villus height/crypt depth (VH/CD) ratio and secretory IgA (sIgA) content of broilers in the supplementation groups were significantly increased (P<0.05); 3) The mRNA expression of jejunal mucosal immune-related genes mucin 2 (MUC2), cluster of differentiation (CD) 4 positive T cells CD4+ and CD8+, interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-10 at 56 and 84 d, and the liver nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) were significantly increased (P<0.05), while inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), IL-6, nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) and toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in jejunal mucosal, cysteine protease-1 (Caspase-1), Caspase-3 and NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) in liver was significantly reduced (P<0.05). In summary, dietary supplementation with GUE and Lac can improve the intestinal morphology, immune and antioxidant functions, inhibit inflammatory response and apoptosis in broilers, and the combined supplementation has a synergistic effect. This study provides a basis for the development and utilization of G. uralensis extract and L. acidophilus synbiotic.
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