Performance, nutrient digestibility, and intestinal histomorphometry of broilers fed diet supplemented with chondroitin and glucosamine sulfates

The role of chondroitin sulphate as a potential biomaterial for hepatic tissue regeneration: A comprehensive review

Chondroitin sulphate is an anionic hetero-polysaccharide, having numerous structural affinities for building the bio-active components. In addition to biodegradable/biocompatible activities, chondroitin sulphate also possesses anti-coagulant/anti-thrombogenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant as well as anti-tumor activities. Chondroitin sulphate has an inherited affinity for glycosylation enzymes and receptors, which are overexpressed over degenerated cells and organelles. Because of this affinity, chondroitin sulphate is nominated as an active cellular/subcellular targeted biological macromolecule to assist in site-specific delivery. Chondroitin sulphate is mainly considered a promising biomaterial for drug targeting and tissue engineering due to its specific physicochemical, mechanical, bio-degradation, and biological characteristics. In this review, the fundamental applications of chondroitin sulphate in hepatic tissue engineering are discussed. Chondroitin sulphate along with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) based scaffold and hydrogels for biopharmaceuticals' delivery in hepatic tissue engineering are critically discussed. In addition, the manuscript also describes leading features and markers involved in hepatic damage, and the potential role of chondroitin sulphate-based delivery systems in hepatic tissue engineering.

Effects of dietary glucosamine sulfate sodium on early laying performance and eggshell quality of laying hens

This study was conducted to determine the influence of dietary glucosamine sulfate sodium (GSS) on laying performance, blood profiles, eggshell and inner quality of eggs and relative expression of the genes related to eggshell in laying hens at early stage. A total of 640 twenty-weeks-old Lohmann laying hens were randomly allotted to 4 treatments with 10 replicates of 16 hens each. The experiment lasted for 8 wk, and dietary treatments were: 1) CON, basal diet; 2) G1, CON + 0.2% GSS; 3) G2, CON + 0.4% GSS; 4) G3, CON + 0.6% GSS. The inclusion of GSS increased average daily feed intake, laying rate, and egg mass (P < 0.05) linearly during wk 21 to 25, 25 to 29, and 21 to 29, egg weight during wk 21 to 25 and 25 to 29, and improved (P < 0.05) feed conversion ratio linearly during wk 21 to 25. The supplementation of GSS increased (P < 0.05) albumen height quadratically, Haugh unit, calcium content, calcium mass, phosphorus content and phosphorus mass linearly at the end of 25th and 29th wk. At the end of 29th wk, the eggshell strength, eggshell weight, eggshell ratio, and eggshell thickness were increased (P < 0.05) linearly in GSS treatments compared with CON. The addition of GSS increased (P < 0.05) serum calcium, estrogen 2, and calcitonin, while decreased (P < 0.05) serum tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), parathormone, IL-6 and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) at the end of 29th wk. The inclusion of GSS increased (P < 0.05) the relative expression of ovocalyxin-32 and ovocalyxin-36 linearly at the end of 29th wk, and ovalbumin, osteopontin, calbindin 1, and ovocleidin-116 linearly at the end of 25th and 29th wk. Quadratic effects were observed (P < 0.05) in the laying rate during wk 21 to 25, serum TRAP and PGE2, the relative expression of ovocleidin-116 at the end of 29th wk. In summary, the inclusion of GSS up-regulated relative expression of osteopontin, ovocleidin-116, ovocalyxin-32 and ovocalyxin-36 in uterus, promoted the serum PGE2 and calcitonin, thus increased the calcium content of eggshell and finally enhanced eggshell quality.

Effect of glycosaminoglycans on the structure and composition of articular cartilage and bone of broilers

This study aimed to assess the influence of glycosaminoglycan (chondroitin and glucosamine sulfates) supplementation in the diet of broilers on the expression of matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP-9) and metallopeptidase inhibitor 2 (TIMP-2) genes, the synthesis of proteoglycans, collagen type II and chondrocytes, bone and cartilage macroscopy, bone mineral densitometry, bone breaking strength and mineral profile. A completely randomized design was carried out in a 3 × 3 factorial scheme (3 levels of chondroitin sulfate: 0.00, 0.05, and 0.10%; and 3 levels of glucosamine sulfate: 0.00, 0.15, and 0.30%), totaling 9 treatments. At 21 and 42 d of age, broilers were slaughtered, and tibias and femurs were collected for evaluation. There was an interaction (P < 0.05) of sulfates for the expression of MMP-9 and its inhibitor TIMP-2 in femur articular cartilage, as well as for the number of chondrocytes, collagen type II and proteoglycans in tibia articular cartilage, bone and cartilage macroscopy and mineral profile (P < 0.05), with better results obtained with the inclusion of chondroitin and/or glucosamine sulfates in the feed. In conclusion, chondroitin and glucosamine sulfates can be used in broiler diets in order to favor the development of the structure of the locomotor system (bones and joints), thus preventing locomotion problems.