Osthole: A Coumarin Derivative Assuage Thiram-Induced Tibial Dyschondroplasia by Regulating BMP-2 and RUNX-2 Expressions in Chickens.

Muhammad Waqas,Khalid Mehmood,Mudassar Iqbal,Wangyuan Yao,Hammad Qamar,Xiaole Tong,Jialu Zhang,Jiakui Li,Aoyun Li,Yaping Wang

doi:10.3390/antiox8090330

Abstract

Avian tibial dyschondroplasia affects fast growing broiler chickens accounting for almost 30% of leg ailments in broilers. The present project was designed to assess the efficacy of osthole against avian tibial dyschondroplasia (TD). Two hundred and forty chickens were equally allocated into control, TD and osthole groups (n = 80). The TD and osthole group chickens were challenged with tetramethylthiuram disulfide (thiram) at 50 mg/kg of feed from 4–7 days, followed by osthole administration at 20 mg/kg orally to the osthole group only from 8–18 days. Thiram feeding resulted in lameness, increased mortality, and decreased production parameters, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), superoxide dismutase (SOD), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) levels, along with significantly increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and growth plate size. Moreover, the genes and protein expressions of BMP-2 and RUNX-2 were significantly down-regulated in TD affected chickens (p < 0.05). Osthole administration showed promising results by alleviating lameness; increased ALP, SOD, T-AOC, and GSH-Px levels; and decreased the AST, ALT, and MDA levels significantly. It restored the size of the growth plate and significantly up-regulated the BMP-2 and RUNX-2 expressions (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the oxidative stress and growth plate anomalies could be assuaged using osthole.

Highlights

The poultry industry is extremely important for creating a sustainable livelihood and economic independence
When the chickens in the tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) and osthole groups were fed with thiram from the 4th to 7th day, the chickens developed a variety of clinical signs like depression, leg deformities, lameness, and difficulty in standing
Our results showed a significant decrease in superoxide dismutase (SOD), GSH-Px, and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) contents, along with a marked increase in MDA contents, indicating oxidative stress

Summary

Introduction

The poultry industry is extremely important for creating a sustainable livelihood and economic independence. It provides animal proteins, i.e., chicken, meat, and eggs, that are widely consumed by the human population [1]. Avian tibial dyschondroplasia is one of these abnormalities [2] accounting for almost 30% of leg ailments in broilers [3]. It results in abnormal differentiation of growth plate (GP) chondrocytes responsible for cartilage vascularization, Antioxidants 2019, 8, 330; doi:10.3390/antiox8090330 www.mdpi.com/journal/antioxidants.

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Conclusion