Antioxidant capacity in broiler chicken enhanced by nucleotides and/or beta-glucan, resulting in increased antioxidant-related gene expression plus enzymes and improved meat quality

Abstract

The current protocol investigated how nucleotides and/or β-glucan affect antioxidant-related gene expression, hepatic tissue lipid peroxidation in chickens, and meat quality. The newly hatched chicks were divided into four groups based on the nutritional supplements they received: the first was a control group, the second was supplemented with 200 mg nucleotides per kg of diet, the third was supplemented with 1-gram β-glucan per kilogram of diet, and the fourth was complemented with both nucleotides and β-glucan. The results demonstrated that the antioxidant-related gene expression was substantially (P < 0.05) upregulated in the fourth broiler group with the addition of nucleotides with β-glucan compared to the other experimental groups. Furthermore, it was detected that the supplements enhanced antioxidant-related enzyme activity in broiler liver tissue, reducing malondialdehyde (MDA) as an indicator of lipid peroxidation. Moreover, the study's results indicated that the two supplements significantly affected tenderness, water-holding capacity (WHC), and cook loss. However, there were no statistically significant variations observed in drip loss, PH, and color (lightness and redness); nevertheless, in comparison to the control group, all dietary-supplemented groups demonstrated a notably reduced yellowness value (P < 0.05). It can be concluded from the findings that the inclusion of nucleotides in conjunction with β-glucan in the diet resulted in improvements in the expression of some genes linked to antioxidants (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx)), antioxidant-related enzymes with decreased MDA, and meat quality characteristics including cook loss, yellowness value of meat color, water holding capacity (WHC), and tenderness.