Phloretin modulates the stability of gut microbiota and increases defense to S. pullorum infection in chicks by 3-phenylpropionic acid-AhR/IL-22/STAT-3 pathway

Phloretin treatment restored the diminished chick growth performance of S. pullorum-infected chicks by improving intestinal integrity and suppressing inflammatory response along with the rehabilitation of intestinal homeostasis. Likewise, such alleviating effects were observed in S. pullorum-infected chicks via fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) of gut microbes from phloretin donors. Furthermore, consumption of phloretin increased the abundance of Faecalibacterium, and the microbiota-derived phenylalanine metabolites 3-phenylpropionate acid.