Trans -anethole exerts protective effects on lipopolysaccharide-induced acute jejunal inflammation of broilers via repressing NF-κB signaling pathway

This study aimed to explore the effects of trans -anethole ( TA ) on lipopolysaccharide ( LPS )-induced acute jejunal inflammation model of broilers. A total of 160 one-day-old broilers (male; Arbor Acres) were randomly allocated into four treatment groups with 8 replicates of 5 birds each. On d 20, the dose of 5 mg/kg body weight LPS solution and the equal amount of sterile saline were intraperitoneally injected into LPS-challenged and unchallenged broilers, respectively. Compared with the control group, LPS decreased ( P < 0.05) the villus height ( VH ) and the ratio of villus height to crypt depth ( VCR ) but increased ( P < 0.05) the crypt depth ( CD ), meanwhile, enhanced ( P < 0.01) the levels of interleukin-6 ( IL-6 ), interleukin-1beta ( IL-1β ) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha ( TNF-α ) but decreased ( P < 0.01) the level of interleukin-10 ( IL-10 ). The group supplemented with 600 mg/kg of TA had lower ( P < 0.01) CD and higher ( P < 0.01) VCR than the LPS group. TA increased ( P < 0.01) the level of IL-10 and decreased ( P < 0.01) the level of IL-1β. The mRNA expression levels of IL-6, nuclear factor kappa B ( NF-κB ), TNF-α were up-regulated ( P < 0.05) and the levels of IL-10 and inhibitor of NF-κB alpha ( IκBα ) were down-regulated ( P < 0.05) by LPS as compared with the control group. TA down-regulated ( P < 0.05) the increased mRNA expression levels of genes caused by LPS, as well as up-regulated ( P < 0.05) the levels of IL-10 and IκBα. Furthermore, LPS down-regulated ( P < 0.05) and up-regulated ( P < 0.05) the protein expression levels of IκBα and NF-κB p65, respectively. TA up-regulated ( P < 0.05) the level of IκBα and down-regulated ( P < 0.05) the level of NF-κB p65. The conclusion of this study is that TA could exert protective effect on the LPS-induced acute jejunal inflammation of broilers via repressing the activation of NF-κB and the 600 mg/kg is the optimal dose against LPS-induced acute jejunal inflammation of broilers.