A mugwort-based Chinese herbal mixture of five herbs improved oviduct health in laying hens under LPS challenge

This study aimed to investigate the preventive effects of Chinese herbal mixture on salpingitis and its impacts on production performance and egg quality in laying hens challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The experiment consisted of two phases. In the feeding phase, 160 Lohmann pink-shell laying hens (45 weeks old) were randomly assigned to two treatments. The control group (CON) was fed a basal diet, and the treatment group (MCH) was fed an experimental diet containing 1,000 mg/kg Chinese herbal mixture (dandelion, mugwort, Hedyotis diffusa, motherwort, and honeysuckle, 1:6:1:1:1). After 8 weeks, the MCH group showed decreased levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the magnum, IL-1β in the isthmus, and IL-6 and TNF-α in the uterus (P < 0.05). In the challenge phase, 32 hens were selected from the CON group and randomly divided into CON and CON + LPS groups, and 16 hens selected from the MCH group constituted the MCH + LPS group. The CON group was intravaginally injected with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), while the challenged groups received LPS preparation, followed by feeding the basal diet for 4 weeks without herbal supplementation. At 48 h after LPS challenge, the MCH + LPS group showed significantly lower mRNA expression levels of TLR-4, IFN-γ, NF-κB, IL-6, iNOS, and IL-4 than the CON + LPS group (P < 0.05). At 28 d after challenge, the MCH + LPS group exhibited lower anatomopathological scores than the CON + LPS group. Although the laying rate decreased in both challenged groups, the MCH + LPS group maintained a higher laying rate and lower feed conversion ratio (FCR) than the CON + LPS group (P < 0.05). Additionally, the MCH + LPS group showed improved relative yolk weight and dark-spotted score compared with the CON + LPS group (P < 0.05). In conclusion, prophylactic dietary supplementation with 1,000 mg/kg Chinese herbal mixture with mugwort as the main component alleviated oviduct damage induced by LPS challenge and improved production performance and egg quality in the late laying period.