Qingfei Huatan Formula alleviates growth suppression and inflammation-driven metabolic dysregulation in avian...

Avian infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) infection causes growth suppression in broilers, which has been hypothesized to involve a diversion of metabolic resources from growth toward immune defense. This study evaluated the efficacy and molecular mechanisms of Qingfei Huatan Formula (QHF) in IBV-challenged broilers. A total of 180 Yellow-feathered broilers were randomly assigned to a blank control, IBV-challenged (M41 strain), Ribavirin, and QHF dose-gradient groups. High-dose QHF intervention significantly increased body weight gain (BWG) at 14 days post-infection compared with the IBV model group (P < 0.05), reaching a level comparable to the blank control. This growth recovery was associated with reduced viral copy numbers in the trachea and lungs at 3 dpi. Mechanistically, high-dose QHF reduced serum IL-1β (P < 0.05) and increased total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) (P < 0.05). Systems pharmacology identified quercetin, baicalein, and nobiletin as core active components, with predicted binding affinities of -8.53 kcal/mol for quercetin with TP53 and -6.38 kcal/mol for quercetin with IBV Mpro. Pearson correlation analysis showed a negative correlation between viral load/inflammatory markers and BWG. These findings indicate that QHF alleviates IBV-induced growth suppression, likely by reducing the metabolic demand of immune activation.