ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1609339
This article is part of the Research TopicSustainable Nutritional Strategies for Improving Health Status, Egg and Meat Quality in PoultryView all 5 articles
Supplementation of Zn-loaded montmorillonite enhanced the Zn ion transport, trace element deposition, antioxidant capacity and intestinal function of broilers
Provisionally accepted
- 1Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, China
- 2Lanzhou Qilihe District Agricultural Technology Extension Station, Gansu,, Lanzhou, China
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This work aimed to investigate the effects of dietary Zinc-Montmorillonite (Zn-MMT) on performance, Zn transporter, metal deposition, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal function of broilers. A total of 144 one-day-old male Cobb broilers were randomly divided into 3 treatment groups. Broilers were fed a corn-soybean meal basal diet in the control group (CK), and the experimental groups were fed a basal diet supplemented with 40mg/kg Zn-MMT and ZnSO4 (in terms of Zn content). The results showed that Zn-MMT had no significant (P > 0.05) effects on average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and carcass parameters, but significantly (P < 0.05) reduces the feed-to-gain ratio (F: G). Dietary Zn increased (P < 0.05) the expression of ZnT-1, ZnT-5, MT and MTF-1 mRNA in the jejunum and Zn content in the tibia and whole blood. Additionally, it increased (P < 0.05) T-AOC and Cu/Zn-SOD content, while reducing (P < 0.05) MDA levels in the liver and jejunum. However, no significant effect (P > 0.05) was observed on the microbial population in the cecum. Additionally, compared with the CK and ZnSO4 groups, Zn-MMT significantly (P < 0.05) increases the expression of MT-3 and DMT-1 mRNA in the jejunum, and promotes the storage of Zn in the liver and pancreas. In addition, Zn-MMT significantly (P < 0.05) increase the villus height (VH) and villus height-to-crypt depth ratio (VH/CD) of the duodenum and jejunum, increase the VH/CD of the ileum, and reduce the CD of the duodenum. In conclusion, supplementation with Zn-MMT in a corn-soybean meal basal diet can increase the expression of metal transporters, promote Zn deposition, enhance antioxidant capacity, improve intestinal tissue parameters, and increase Zn utilization.
Keywords: broilers, Zn-loaded montmorillonite, antioxidant capacity, zinc transporter, Intestinal function
Received: 10 Apr 2025; Accepted: 28 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Qin, Wang, Qin, Li, Tang and Shi. 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: Shizhen Qin, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, China
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