The impact of active components from Piper sarmentosum on the growth, intestinal barrier function, and immunity of broiler chickens.

Objective: Pellitorine (PT) and vitexin-2-O-rhamnoside (VR) are two bioactive compounds found in Piper sarmentosum (PS). Their contents are relatively high in the ethanol extract of PS (PSE). However, it remains unknown whether PT and VR are the primary components of PS that exert beneficial effects on gut health. In this study, we aimed to confirm that these two compounds are the primary anti-inflammatory active ingredients in PSE.

Methods: Total of 300 female one-day-old Danzhou chickens were randomly divided into five groups with five replicates each. Chickens were given a basal diet (CON group), a basal diet with added PSE (200 mg/kg), VR (1.321 mg/kg), PT (0.563 mg/kg), and a combination of VR+PT (1.321 mg/kg VR and 0.563 mg/kg PT) until they reached 35 days of age.

Results: The findings reveal that the VR+PT group exhibited increased liver, thymus and spleen indices compared to the CON group, along with elevated mRNA levels of ZO-1 and Claudin-1 (p<0.05). In contrast, the VR+PT group exhibited reduced serum levels and the ileum mucosa mRNA expression levels of IL-1β and IL-6 compared to the CON group (p<0.05). Additionally, the chickens in the VR+PT group had a greater final weight and average daily gain than those in the CON and PSE groups, with a significantly lower level of D-lactic acid in serum (p<0.05). The serum IgM level increased significantly (p<0.05) in the VR+PT group compared to the PSE group, while the kidney epinephrine level decreased significantly (p<0.05).

Conclusion: The present study provides preliminary evidence that VR and PT are two of the main active compounds in PSE, which can cooperatively improve growth performance, intestinal barrier integrity, and immune function in chickens.