ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1623816
This article is part of the Research TopicNew Insights into the Avian Gut MicrobiomesView all 7 articles
Maternal β-carotene addition has long-term effects on intestinal health of offspring chicks
Provisionally accepted
- Jilin Agriculture University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China
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Maternal dietary intervention utilizing complex additives rich in β-carotene has demonstrated the capacity to enhance embryonic intestinal development and influence microbial composition in offspring. Nevertheless, the extended impact of maternal β-carotene inclusion on the intestinal health of post-hatching chicks is still not fully elucidated. This research aimed to evaluate the impacts of maternal β-carotene supplementation on the intestinal development and microbial communities in chicks after hatching. A total of 1,215 Hy-Line Brown laying hens were divided into three groups, with each group containing five subgroups of 81 hens each. The hens received a basal diet (CON) or diets added with β-carotene at 120 mg/kg (LBC) or 240 mg/kg (HBC). After six weeks of dietary intervention, eggs were collected for incubation.Following hatching, forty male chicks from each group were randomly chosen and evenly distributed into five distinct subgroups. All chicks were then reared on a
Keywords: β-Carotene, maternal nutrition, gut health, offspring chicks, intestinal microbiota
Received: 06 May 2025; Accepted: 31 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Wan, Ren, Tao, Wu and Zheng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Da Wan, Jilin Agriculture University, Changchun, 130118, Jilin Province, China
Xin Zheng, Jilin Agriculture University, Changchun, 130118, Jilin Province, China
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