Effects of dietary betaine supplementation on biochemical parameters of blood and testicular oxidative stress in Hu sheep

The role of Cistanches Herba and its ingredients in improving reproductive outcomes: A comprehensive review

BACKGROUND

Infertility patients account for an astonishing proportion of individuals worldwide. Due to its complex etiology and challenging treatment, infertility has imposed significant psychological and economic burdens on many patients. C. Herba (Cistanche tubulosa (Schenk) Wight and Cistanche deserticola Ma), renowned as one of the most prominent Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs), is abundant in diverse bioactive compounds that exhibit therapeutic effects on many diseases related to oxidative stress (OS) and disorders of sex hormone levels.

OBJECTIVE

Due to the limited drugs currently used in clinical practice to improve reproductive outcomes and their inevitable side effects, developing safe and effective new medications for infertility is of significance. This article comprehensively reviewed the phytochemicals of C. Herba, focusing on their efficacy and mechanisms on infertility and their safety for the first time, aiming to offer valuable insights for the development and application of C. Herba, and for developing novel strategies for treating infertility.

METHODS

We used "Cistanche" and its known bioactive components in combination with "sperm", "testicles", "epididymis", "ovaries", "uterus", and "infertility" as keywords to search in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and CNKI up to November 2023. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guideline was followed.

RESULTS

The therapeutic effects of C. Herba on infertility are mainly attributed to echinacoside (ECH), verbascoside (VB), salidroside (SAL), polysaccharides, and betaine. They can effectively improve spermatogenic dysfunction, gonadal dysfunction and erectile dysfunction (ED) by exerting anti-oxidation, sex hormones regulation and anti-hypoxia. Moreover, they can also improve premature ovarian failure (POF), ovarian and uterine cancer, oocyte maturation by exerting anti-oxidation, anti-apoptosis, and anti-cancer. C. Herba and its active ingredients also exhibit pleasing safety.

CONCLUSION

C. Herba is a promising source of natural medicine for infertility. Additionally, compared to current therapeutic drugs, its favorable safety also supports its development as a nutritional supplement. However, high-quality clinical studies are required to validate its effectiveness for the development of novel therapeutic strategies.

Effect of in-ovo inoculation of betaine on hatchability, serum antioxidant levels, muscle gene expression and intestinal development of broiler chicks

This study investigated the effects of in-ovo inoculation of betaine on hatchability, hatching weight, and intestinal development, as well as serum and expression levels of some antioxidants in the posthatched chicks. A total of 350 fertile eggs of Hubbard efficiency plus breeder's flock were incubated at normal incubation temperature (37.5°C) and randomly assembled into 3 groups with 4 replicates, and 25 eggs per each. The experimental groups were allocated as noninjected control group (CN), diluent-injected group (CP, 0.1 mL saline), and betaine-injected group (B, 2.5 mg in 0.1 mL saline). The injections were performed in the air cells of the eggs on the 12th day of the embryonic phase. Hatchability percentage, hatching weight, serum-reduced glutathione (GSH), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were estimated in 7-day-old chicks. Moreover, expression levels of the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and SOD were determined in the breast skeletal muscles of chicks. Jejunum histo-morphometric analysis was assessed with computerised morphometric measurements. The results revealed that the hatchability percentage was not influenced by in-ovo injection of betaine or vehicle while betaine significantly increased the hatchling's weight of chicks. Moreover, there were a significant increase in SOD and Nrf2 mRNA expression levels. In-ovo injection of betaine significantly induced positive effects on intestinal morphometry by ameliorating the jejunal villus length, the ratio of villus height to villus width, and absorptive surface area.

Betaine addition to the diet alleviates intestinal injury in growing rabbits during the summer heat through the AAT/mTOR pathway

BACKGROUND

The aim of this experiment was to investigate the effect of different levels of betaine (Bet) inclusion in the diet on the intestinal health of growing rabbits under summer heat. A total of 100 weaned Qixing meat rabbits aged 35 d with body weight of 748.61 ± 38.59 g were randomly divided into 5 treatment groups: control group (basal diet) and Bet groups (basal diet + 0.75, 1.0, 1.5 or 2.0 g/kg Bet). The average daily temperature in the rabbitry during the experiment was 30.48 °C and the relative humidity was 69.44%.

RESULTS

Dietary addition of Bet had no significant effect on growth performance and health status of growing rabbits (P > 0.05), but it increased ileal secretory immunoglobulin A content compared to the control under summer heat (P < 0.05). Addition of 0.75 g/kg Bet up-regulated jejunal IL-4, down-regulated ileal TNF-α expression (P < 0.05). The addition of 1.0 g/kg Bet increased the villi height (VH) in the jejunum (P < 0.05). Serum glucose levels were reduced, and the expression of SLC6A20 was up-regulated in jejunum and ileum of rabbits fed with 1.5 g/kg Bet (P < 0.05). When added at 2.0 g/kg, Bet reduced serum HSP70 content, increased jejunal VH, and up-regulated duodenal SLC7A6, SLC38A2, mTOR and 4EBP-2 expression (P < 0.05). Correlation analysis revealed that intestinal mTOR expression was significantly and positively correlated with SLC7A6, SLC38A2, SLC36A1 and IL-4 expression (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Dietary addition of Bet can up-regulate the expression of anti-inflammatory factors through the AAT/mTOR pathway, improve the intestinal immune function, alleviate intestinal damage in growing rabbits caused by summer heat, and improve intestinal health.

Effect of dietary supplemental vitamin C and betaine on the growth performance, humoral immunity, immune organ index, and antioxidant status of broilers under heat stress

Heat stress (HS) has become one of the important factors affecting the development of animal husbandry. The purpose of this experiment was to investigate whether vitamin C (Vc) and betaine (Bet) improve immune organ index and humoral immunity by enhancing the antioxidant status of immune organs, thus protecting broilers from HS-induced injuries. A total of 200 28-day-old Ross 308 broilers were randomly assigned into 5 groups (n = 4 replicates/group, 10 broilers/replicate) which were reared at different ambient temperatures (24 ± 1°C or 33 ± 1°C). The control group fed basal diet, while high-temperature groups were either fed a basal diet (HS group) or a basal diet supplemented with 250-mg Vc/kg diet (HSVc group), 1000-mg Bet/kg diet (HSBet group), and 250-mg Vc plus 1000 mg Bet/kg diet (HSVcBet group), respectively. On day 42, growth performance, humoral immune function, immune organ index, and antioxidant capacity were measured. HS reduced the productive performance of broilers, antibody potency against the Newcastle disease virus (NDV) and sheep red blood cells (SRBC), indices of thymus and bursa, and antioxidant capacity of immune organs. Adding Vc alone or in combination with Bet improved performance, NDV and SRBC antibody potency, thymus and bursa indices, and antioxidant capacity of immune organs in heat-stressed broilers, with the most effective being combination. In summary, HS reduces the antioxidant capacity and immune organ development status of broiler immune organs. Vc and/or Bet can improve the development of immune organs and restore part of the production performance by regulating the antioxidant status of immune organs, among which the combined addition of Vc and Bet has the best effect.

Functional roles of taurine, L-theanine, L-citrulline, and betaine during heat stress in poultry

Heat stress (HS) is an important environmental stress factor affecting poultry production on a global scale. With the rise in ambient temperature and increasing effects of global warming, it becomes pertinent to understand the effects of HS on poultry production and the strategies that can be adopted to mitigate its detrimental impacts on the performance, health, welfare, immunity, and survival of birds. Amino acids (AAs) have been increasingly adopted as nutritional modifiers in animals to ameliorate the adverse effects of HS. They are essential for protein synthesis, growth, maintenance, reproduction, immunity, stress response, and whole-body homeostasis. However, HS tends to adversely affect the availability, transport, absorption, and utilization of these AAs. Studies have investigated the provision of these AAs to poultry during HS conditions, and variable findings have been reported. Taurine, L-theanine, and L-citrulline are non-essential amino acids that are increasingly gaining attention as nutritional supplements in HS animals. Similarly, betaine is an amino acid derivative that possesses favorable biological properties which contributes to its role as a functional additive during HS. Of particular note, taurine is negligible in plants, while betaine, L-theanine, and L-citrulline can be found in selected plants. These nutrients are barely found in feed ingredients, but their supply has been shown to elicit important physiological roles including anti-stress effects, anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, gut promoting, and immunomodulatory functions. The present review provides information on the use of these nutritionally and physiologically beneficial nutrients as functional additives to poultry diets during HS conditions. Presently, although several studies have reported on the positive effects of these additives in human and murine studies, however, there is limited information regarding their utilization during heat stress in poultry nutrition. Therefore, this review aims to expound on the functional properties of these nutrients, their potentials for HS alleviation, and to stimulate further researches on their biological roles in poultry nutrition.

Effects of dietary betaine supplementation on growth performance, meat quality, muscle fatty acid composition and antioxidant ability in slow-growing broiler chickens

1. This study investigated the effects of dietary betaine supplementation on growth performance, meat quality, muscle fatty acid composition and antioxidant ability in slow-growing broiler chickens.2. In total, 400, one-day-old female Xueshan broiler chicks were randomly divided into five groups with eight replicates of ten chickens each for 102 d. Broilers were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0, 125, 250, 500 or 1,000 mg/kg betaine.3. Broilers fed betaine had better feed conversion efficiency and weight gain (P < 0.05) and increased meat redness and yellowness 24 h after slaughter. Supplementation linearly decreased cooking loss and drip loss from breast muscle (P < 0.05). Muscular resilience was improved and tenderness increased (P < 0.05). Intra-muscular saturated fatty acids decreased, while total monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids increased (P < 0.05). Betaine increased activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and total superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH) level, ratio of reduced glutathione/oxidised glutathione, and activity of scavenging hydroxyl radicals. It increased the activity of total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) in the breast muscle (P < 0.05). Moreover, supplementation up-regulated (P < 0.05) mRNA expression levels of blood and antioxidant markers.4. In conclusion, 1000 mg/kg betaine can be recommended as a supplement for slow-growing, Xueshan chicken.