Dietary Supplementation with Chlorogenic Acid Enhances Antioxidant Capacity, Which Promotes Growth, Jejunum Barrier Function, and Cecum Microbiota in Broilers under High Stocking Density Stress

• Published in: Animals (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 2; p. 303
• Main Authors: Liu, Yanhao, Zhang, Yi, Bai, Dongying, Li, Yuqian, He, Xianglong, Ito, Koichi, Liu, Kexin, Tan, Haiqiu, Zhen, Wenrui, Zhang, Bingkun, Ma, Yanbo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 15-01-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Animals; Antibiotics; antioxidant capacity; Antioxidants; Bacteria; Body weight; broilers; Cecum; Chickens; Chlorogenic acid; Cytokines; Drug resistance; Enzymatic activity; Enzyme activity; Ethanol; Experiments; Feed additives; Food additives; Food sources; Gene expression; Genes; High density; high stocking density stress; Humidity; intestinal barrier function; Intestine; Jejunum; Malondialdehyde; microbial community; Microbiota; Microflora; Microorganisms; Oxidative stress; Permeability; Physiology; Poultry; Small intestine; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Villus; United States > US; China; Germany; broilers; microbial community; antioxidant capacity; intestinal barrier function; high stocking density stress; chlorogenic acid
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani13020303

Chlorogenic acids (CGA) are widely used as feed additives for their ability to improve growth performance and intestinal health in poultry. However, whether dietary CGAs could reverse the impaired intestinal condition caused by high stocking density (HD) in broiler chickens is unknown. We determined the effect of dietary CGA on growth, serum antioxidant levels, jejunum barrier function, and the microbial community in the cecum of broilers raised under normal (ND) or HD conditions. HD stress significantly decreased growth and body weight, which was restored by CGA. The HD group showed increased serum malondialdehyde, an oxidative byproduct, and decreased SOD and GSH-Px activity. CGA reduced malondialdehyde and restored antioxidant enzyme activity. HD stress also significantly decreased jejunal villus length and increased crypt depth. Compared with ND, the expression of tight-junction genes was significantly decreased in the HD group, but this decrease was reversed by CGA. HD also significantly upregulated TNF-α. Compared with ND, the cecal microbiota in the HD group showed lower alpha diversity with increases in the harmful bacteria
and
. This change was altered in the HD + CGA group, with enrichment of
,
, and other beneficial bacteria. These results demonstrated that HD stress decreased serum antioxidant capacity, inhibited the development of jejunal villi, and downregulated expression of tight-junction genes, which increased intestinal permeability during the rapid growth period (21 to 35 days). Dietary CGA enhanced antioxidant capacity, improved intestinal integrity, and enhanced beneficial gut bacteria in chickens raised under HD conditions.