Dietary Lysophospholipid Emulsifiers Enhance Broiler Performance, Immune Response, Meat Quality, and Mitigate Oxidative Stress

Mahmoud M Alagawany^*

• Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

Background: The current study evaluated the impact of lysophospholipids emulsifiers (LPLs) dietary incorporation on ameliorating the negative impacts of oxidative stress in broilers. Methods: A total of 270 two-week-old male Avian 48 chicks were randomly divided into six experimental groups. The first group fed a basal diet (BD) only, while the second group (+DEX) received BD containing 2 mg/kg dexamethasone. The third and fourth groups consisted of birds fed BD containing 0.5 g and 1 g of LPLSs/kg, respectively. The fifth and sixth groups, which included birds, received BD containing 1 mg/kg dexamethasone and were supplemented with 0.5 g and 1 g of LPLs, respectively. Results: Separate supplementation of LPLs significantly improved broilers’ growth as confirmed by increasing final weight, body gain, and FI with improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P < 0.05). LPLs also improved carcass yield (carcass, breast and thigh muscle percentages, P = 0.0001) and meat quality (water-holding capacity P < 0.05, tenderness P < 0.05, pH P < 0.001, and color P < 0.05) with notable improvement in intestinal and liver histology and significantly increased intestinal villi length and width (P < 0.001). Furthermore, LPLs improved the serum levels of globulin (P < 0.01), creatinine (P < 0.001), LDL cholesterol (P < 0.001), HDL cholesterol (P < 0.01), and triglycerides (P < 0.001). Immune and antioxidant levels, as well as LPLs' dietary supplementation, distinctly increased phagocytic activity and index, total antioxidants, superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase, with a marked reduction in malondialdehyde (MDA) (P < 0.05). However, feeding dexamethasone negatively impacted birds’ performance, confirmed by a marked retardation of birds’ growth manifested by lowering final body weight, gain, and increasing FCR, along with poor carcass yield and increased abdominal fat accumulation (P < 0.05). The dexamethasone-associated negative impacts were ameliorated with the combined LPLs dietary supplementation. Conclusion: Dietary supplementation of LPLs at 0.5g level could effectively mitigate adverse effects of oxidative stress in broilers, improving growth performance, immune response, intestinal health, and meat quality of broiler chickens under normal and stressful conditions.