Resveratrol Modulates Intestinal Structure and Function in Chickens Exposed to Heat Stress

Heat stress causes oxidative damage in chicken intestinal epithelial cells, resulting in economic losses in poultry production. The potential of resveratrol to alleviaate oxidative stress and intestinal injury in poultry was investigated.

A total of 300 one-day-old chickens were randomly assigned to five different experimental groups. The control group was maintained under normal temperature, while the remaining four groups were exposed to high-temperature conditions and received a basal diet supplemented with resveratrol for a period of 15 days. Intestinal tissue structure and serum antioxidant indices were measured. Mechanistically, transcriptome sequencing was employed to investigate gene expression changes in the jejunal mucosa. Finally, analyses of gene ontology (GO) and KEGG pathways were conducted.

The results indicate that heat stress negatively affects the structure of intestinal villi, leading to increased mRNA expression of HSPB1, HSP70 and HSP90. However, the daily administration of resveratrol at a dose of 400 mg/kg of body weight reduces the excessive expression of these heat shock protein mRNAs (P<0.05). Chicks that were supplemented with resveratrol exhibited significantly elevated serum levels of SOD, CAT, T-AOC and GSH-PX (P<0.05). Transcription profiling showed 181 significantly altered differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The outcomes indicated that the DEGs in the resveratrol-treated group were primarily enriched in the VEGF, ErbB and Toll-like receptor signaling pathways. All in all, resveratrol demonstrates significant potential in alleviating the adverse effects of heat stress on broilers.