Dietary supplementation of microencapsulated botanicals and organic acids enhances the expression and function of intestine epithelial digestive enzymes and nutrient transporters in broiler chickens
Date
2024-08-31
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Poultry Science
Abstract
Organic acids and botanicals have shown protective effects on gut barrier and against inflammation in broilers. However, their effects on intestinal digestive enzymes and nutrients transporters expression and functions have not been fully studied. The objective of this study was to understand how a microencapsulated blend of botanicals and organic acids affected intestinal enzyme activities and nutrient transporters expression and functions in broilers. A total of 288 birds were assigned to a commercial control diet or diet supplemented with 500 g/MT (metric ton) of the microencapsulated additive. Growth performance was recorded weekly. At d 21 and d 42, jejunum and ileum were isolated for enzyme (maltase, sucrase, and aminopeptidase) and transporter (SGLT1, GLUT2, GLUT1, EAAT3, B0AT1, and PepT1) analyses. Jejunum specific nutrients (glucose, alanine, and glutamate) transport activities were evaluated by Ussing chamber. Protein expression of nutrient transporters in small intestine were measured in mucosa and brush-border membrane (BBM) samples by western blot. Intestinal gene expression of the transporters was determined by RT-PCR. Statistical analysis was performed using Student's t-test comparing the supplemented diet to the control. The feed efficiency was significantly improved through the study period in the supplemented group (P ≤ 0.05). Significant changes of intestinal histology were shown in both jejunum (P ≤ 0.10) and ileum (P ≤ 0.05) after 21 d of treatment. At d21, jejunal maltase activity was upregulated (P ≤ 0.10). The Ussing chamber transport of glucose and alanine was increased, which was in line with increased gene expression (GLUT2, GLUT1, EAAT3, and B0AT1) (P ≤ 0.10 and P ≤ 0.05, respectively) and BBMV protein levels (B0AT1, P < 0.10). At d21, ileal sucrase and maltase activities were upregulated (P ≤ 0.05). Increased expressions of GLUT1, EAAT3, and B0AT1 were observed in both mRNA and protein levels (P ≤ 0.05). Similar pattern of changes was also shown at d42 of age. Our results suggest that feeding microencapsulated additives improves intestinal nutrient digestion and transporter expression and function in broilers, thereby enhancing feed efficiency.
Description
This article was originally published in Poultry Science. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2024.104237. © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of Poultry Science Association Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Keywords
botanical, organic acid, intestinal nutrient transport, digestive enzyme, broiler
Citation
Toschi, Andrea, Liang-en Yu, Sofia Bialkowski, Lydia Schlitzkus, Ester Grilli, and Yihang Li. “Dietary Supplementation of Microencapsulated Botanicals and Organic Acids Enhances the Expression and Function of Intestine Epithelial Digestive Enzymes and Nutrient Transporters in Broiler Chickens.” Poultry Science 103, no. 11 (November 1, 2024): 104237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2024.104237.