Abstract
This study investigated the supplemental effects of the flavonoids genistein and hesperidin for biomarkers of heat stress in broilers reared under persistent summer stress. A total of 360 one-day-old, mixed-sex broiler chickens were divided into 6 treatment groups: control or supplemented with 5 mg of genistein·kg of feed−1, 20 mg of hesperidin·kg of feed−1, or a mixture of genistein and hesperidin (1:4) at a dosage of 5 mg·kg−1, 10 mg·kg−1, and 20 mg·kg−1 of feed. Broilers were slaughtered at 42 d and samples were analyzed for hematological profile, creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, and heat shock protein 70 mRNA levels. Results showed that dietary genistein and hesperidin improved (P < 0.05) the weekly performance of broilers particularly during the finisher period. The circulating heterophils and heterophil-to-lymphocyte ratios were found to decrease (P < 0.01) in the treated groups. Moreover, biomarkers of heat stress including the level of creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, and heat shock protein 70 mRNA of breast muscle was also changed (P < 0.01) positively by the dietary compounds with pronounced effects of combined treatments. These findings suggested that genistein and hesperidin could be a prime strategy to ameliorate summer stress effects in broilers; and a combination of both compounds may lead to mutual synergistic effects. It could be suggested that dietary use of both genistein and hesperidin as a feed supplement may offer a potential nutritional strategy in tropical and subtropical regions to overcome the deleterious effects of persistent summer stress in broiler production.
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