The effects of Astragalus, Epimedium, and Fructus Ligustri Lucidi extract on the antioxidant capacity, and immune status of goslings under stress conditions

Qing Qu^1,2,3Yihong Sun^1,2,3Yayan Liang^1,2,3Yongsheng Nie^1,2,3,4Ming Gao^1,2,3Yaohui Yuan⁵Shuo Zhou^1,2,3*Wei Wang^1,2,3

• ¹College of Animal Science and Technology, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
• ²Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, College of Horticulture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
• ³Innovative Institute of Animal Healthy Breeding, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
• ⁴Crown Bioscience (Zhongshan) Co., Ltd., Zhongshan, China
• ⁵Shenyang Weijia Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Shenyang，Liaoning, China

With the development and improvement of the scale, intensification, and production level of the goose farming industry, oxidative stress often occurs during the process of producing meat geese. This study employed the intraperitoneal injection method with a concentration of 2.96 mmol/mL H2O2 to establish a model of oxidative stress in goslings. The effects of Astragalus, Epimedium, and Fructus Ligustri Lucidi (AEF) extract on the immune function, antioxidant capacity, meat quality, intestinal morphology, and intestinal barrier integrity of goslings were investigated. Twenty-four 1-month-old Magang geese from the same batch were randomly divided into four groups: control group (C group), AEF treatment group (AEF group), H2O2 stress group (S group), AEF and H2O2 stress group (S+AEF group). The experiment lasted for 30 days, during which the AEF group and the S+AEF group were fed 0.1 g/mL of AEF aqueous solution, once daily. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was employed as the stressor. On the 25th day of the experiment, the goslings were weighed and administered an abdominal cavity injection of H2O2. The results showed that compared with the control group, the body weight, spleen weight, bursa index of fabricius, spleen index, thymus index, the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), and catalase (CAT) in serum, liver, and jejunum were decreased in S group (P<0.05). Meanwhile, compared with the S group, the body weight, spleen weight, bursa index of fabricius, spleen index, thymus index, the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), and catalase (CAT) in serum, liver, and jejunum were enhanced in S+AEF group and S+AEF+LP group (P<0.05). However, the content of cortisol (CORT) and blood glucose were increased in S group (P<0.05), AEF and AEF+LP effectively alleviated these growth trend. Supplementing with AEF and LP post-stress alleviated stress-induced the expression of inflammatory factors (TGF-β, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6), and improve L*, a*, b*, Ph45 (min), Ph24 (h)and drip loss in pectoral (P<0.05). The intestinal morphology results showed that the villus structures in the duodenum and jejunum of goslings were short and sparse under stress conditions, with a significant decrease in the villus height/crypt depth ratio (Vh/Cd).