Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 20, 2026
In Ovo Feeding of Commercial Broiler Eggs: An Accurate and Reproducible Method to Affect Muscle Development and Growth
Published on: September 20, 2021
The effects of dietary oxyberberine supplementation on the growth performance, carcass traits, blood biochemical
Gaoxiang Ai1, Jiang Chen1, Pingwen Xiong1
1Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang 330200, PR China; Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Animal Green and Healthy Breeding, Nanchang 330200, PR China.
Abstract:
Oxyberberine (OBB), a novel intestinal metabolite of berberine (BBR), has demonstrated anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities superior to those of BBR. Nevertheless, current studies on OBB have focused primarily on rodents, and its potential as a livestock feed additive for nutritional regulation remains largely unexplored. The present study aimed to elucidate the effect of dietary OBB on growth performance, biochemical parameters and intestinal health of broilers. A total of 300 1-d female broilers (Shengze 901+) were randomized into five treatment groups (6 pens/treatment and 10 birds/pen): basal diet group as control (Control), basal diet + 50 mg/kg BBR (BBR 50), basal diet + 25 mg/kg OBB (OBB 25), basal diet + 50 mg/kg OBB (OBB 50), basal diet + 75 mg/kg OBB (OBB 75). The feeding trial lasted for 6 weeks, dividing into an early stage (1-21 d) and a late stage (21-42 d). These findings demonstrated that supplementing with 25 mg/kg OBB dramatically improved the growth performance of broilers during the later growth phase (P < 0.05), and also apparently increased semi-eviscerated, eviscerated and breast muscle weights (P < 0.05). OBB supplementation markedly increased the activities of SOD, CAT, T-AOC and GSH-Px (P < 0.05), while also significantly decreasing serum DAO and enhancing immune function by boosting IgA, IgM, and IgG concentrations (P < 0.05). OBB supplementation markedly (P < 0.05) lowered serum UN, TC, and TG levels, as well as noticeably upregulated the expressions of tight junction proteins and augmented the number of goblet cells (P < 0.05). 16S rRNA sequencing revealed that significant enrichment of Prevotellaceae, Desulfovibrio and Bacillales in the OBB 25 group. Taken together, supplementation with OBB, especially 25 mg/kg, could improve growth performance and slaughter performance, which may be related to improving antioxidation capacity, immune function and intestinal barrier function.
