Effects of Dietary Energy Level on Performance, Plasma Parameters, and Central AMPK Levels in Stressed Broilers.

Xiyi Hu,Xianlei Li,Zhigang Song,Linglian Kong,Chuanpi Xiao,Qidong Zhu

doi:10.3389/fvets.2021.681858

Abstract

This study aimed to characterize the effects of diets with different energy levels on the growth performance, plasma parameters, and central AMPK signaling pathway in broilers under dexamethasone (DEX)-induced stress. A total of 216 1-day-old male broiler chickens were allocated to groups fed with high (HED), National Research Council-recommended (control), or low (LED) energy diets. At 10 days old, chickens were treated with or without dexamethasone (DEX, 2 mg/kg body weight) for 3 consecutive days. HED increased broiler average daily gain (ADG) at 10 days old, compared with the LED (P < 0.05), while average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion rate (FCR) decreased as the dietary energy level increased (P < 0.05). Chickens fed a HED had higher total protein (TP) content, albumin (ALB), glucose (GLU), total cholesterol (TCHO), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, compared with the control group (P < 0.05). At 13 days old, DEX decreased ADG and increased FCR in broilers fed with different energy diets (P < 0.05). The DEX-HED group had a higher ADFI than non-DEX treated HED group chickens. In addition, TP, ALB, triglycerides (TG), TCHO, HDL, and LDL content levels in the DEX group were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The uric acid (UA) content of the LED group was higher than that of the HED group (P < 0.05). Further, gene expression levels of liver kinase B1, AMP-activated protein kinase α1, neuropeptide Y, and GC receptor in the hypothalamus were increased in chickens treated with DEX (P < 0.05). There was a trend toward interaction between plasma TCHO and hypothalamic LKB1 expression (0.05 < P < 0.1). In conclusion, this study suggests that HED improves growth performance, plasma glucose and total cholesterol at 10 days old broilers, but had no significant effect on performance, plasma parameters, and central AMPK in stressed broilers.

Highlights

Broiler chickens in intensive poultry production systems are challenged by various stress factors [1], including high temperature, high stock density, and diseases
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different energy level diets on the performance, plasma composition, and central AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling in stressed broiler chickens
From days 0 to 10, chicks fed with the high energy diet (HED) had greater average daily gain (ADG) and lower average daily feed intake (ADFI) (P < 0.05) than those fed with the low energy diet (LED), while LED treatment resulted in higher ADFI and feed conversion rate (FCR) (P < 0.05) than the control and HED treatments

Summary

Introduction

Broiler chickens in intensive poultry production systems are challenged by various stress factors [1], including high temperature, high stock density, and diseases. Those factors may impair productive performance and survival, thereby resulting in financial losses for farmers [2, 3]. Stress increases the preference for high-fat foods in rodents [14, 15] and in humans [16]. Some studies have found that high-fat diets affect stress response modulation by reducing the autonomic and HPA axis responses to repeated stressors in rodents [14, 17,18,19]. Chickens may be able to detect metabolic changes [20] and prefer to consume a high-energy diet [1]

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Conclusion