Electrolyzed reduced water could regulate muscular energy producing ability of heat-exposed broiler chickens

Abstract

We have previously shown that alleviation in ROS-induced oxidative damage to skeletal muscle and improvement in production efficiencies are observed in broiler chickens supplied with electrolyzed-reduced water when exposed to 5 days-long chronic heat exposure. In this study, we investigated whether this reduced water may also improve those parameters in broiler chickens exposed to 14 days-long chronic heat exposure. Broiler chickens (Gallus gallus) were fed either a control diet with tape water or control diet supplied with electrolyzed-reduced water for 14 d after hatch, and then exposed either to heat stress (34oC for 14 days), or kept at a thermoneutral temperature (24oC). Skeletal muscle substrate metabolism (3HADH and CS activities), adenine nucleotides concentration, enzymatic scavenging systems were studied. We confirmed that heat-stressed broilers decreased weight gain and feed consumption compared to control broilers. In contrast, heat-exposed broilers supplied with electrolyzed-reduced water significantly and definitely improved performance when compared to heat-stressed control broilers. On exposure to long-term heat treatments, broiler supplied with reduced water showed higher CS activity, indicating that the reduced water could improve energy-producing ability via modulating TCA cycle. We also found that the reduced water could definitely improve the total adenine nucleotide (TAN), adenylated energy charge (AEC), and ATP to ADP ratios under such conditions. On the other hand, broiler chickens supplied with reduced water kept relatively constant the SOD, catalase, and GPx activities, implying that reduced water could support the enzymatic scavenging systems. Taken together, these results suggest that broiler chickens supplied with electrolyzed-reduced water could improve energy producing ability via modulating TCA-cycle enzyme, and lead to improving performance.