Effect of sodium butyrate on intestinal inflammatory response to lipopolysaccharide in broiler chickens

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of sodium butyrate (SB) supplementation on intestinal inflammatory response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in broiler chickens. A total of 120 one-day-old chickens (Arbor Acres) were divided into two groups and fed a control diet (without SB) or 1.00 g SB kg-1 diet. Half of the chickens fed each diet were injected intra-peritoneally with 0.5 g kg-1 body weight of Escherichia coli LPS at 16, 18 and 20 d of age. The results showed that the LPS challenge decreased (P<0.05) villus height and the ratio of villus height to crypt depth (V/C ratio), increased (P<0.01) crypt depth of the duodenum. SB supplementation increased (PB0.05) villus height, crypt depth and V/C ratio of the duodenum and jejunum, except for the crypt depth of the jejunum. The LPS challenge increased (PB0.05) myeloperoxidase (MPO) activities, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and activated nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) levels in mucosa of the duodenum and jejunum, while decreasing (PB0.05) insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) concentrations. The LPS challenge increased (PB0.05) the mRNA levels of interleukin-1beta (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in duodenal mucosa. SB supplementation decreased (PB0.05) the MPO activities and mRNA expression of TNF-α in the duodenal mucosa, and the activated NF-κB levels in mucosa of the duodenum and jejunum. There were no significant interactions between dietary SB and LPS on the histomorphology of the small intestine and those inflammatory mediators except for MPO and ICAM-1 in duodenal mucosa (P<0.05). The results indicate that SB supplementation could improve the intestinal morphology and function of broiler chickens and partially attenuate inflammatory responses caused by LPS challenge but not involving NF-κB activation.