Berberine-mediated chicken gut microbiota modulation

Intestinal inflammation and dysbiosis are a growing problem notably in the broiler industry after removal of antibiotics from animal feed, and berberine, with anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial activity, presents a great potential as feed-additive to prevent and counteract these challenges. Whether gut microbiota modulation can contribute to the gut health promoting effects of berberine is not yet fully clear. This project characterizes the berberine-mediated changes of the jejunal, ileal, caecal and colonic microbiota in broiler chickens.

肠道炎症与菌群失调已成为愈发严峻的问题，尤其在动物饲料禁用抗生素后的肉鸡养殖业中。小檗碱（berberine）兼具抗炎与抗菌活性，作为饲料添加剂在预防和应对上述挑战方面展现出巨大应用潜力。目前，肠道菌群调控是否介导了小檗碱的肠道健康改善效应，尚未完全阐明。本研究旨在表征小檗碱介导的肉鸡空肠、回肠、盲肠及结肠菌群的变化特征。