The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of Artemisia argyi aqueous extract (AAE) on antioxidant indexes in the small intestine. A total of 192 Arbor Acre broiler chickens (one-day-old) were randomly divided into 4 treatments with 6 replicates of 8 chickens. These 4 diets were formulated by adding 0, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 mg/kg AAE to the basal diet. The results showed as follows: 1) compared with the control, the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) in ileum for the 2,000 mg/kg treatment group was significantly increased at 21 days of age (P < 0.05); the T-AOC levels in jejunum and ileum were significantly increased in broilers supplemented with 500 mg/kg AAE at 42 days of age (P < 0.05), and the T-AOC levels in jejunum and ileum were significantly improved in 1,000 mg/kg treatment group (P < 0.01). 2) At 21 days of age, supplementation of 500 mg/kg AAE significantly increased the catalase (CAT) activity of small intestine, and the glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity of jejunum was improved (P < 0.01), meanwhile, the GSH-Px activity of duodenum and the total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activity of duodenum and jejunum were significantly higher than those of the control group (P < 0.05); supplementation of 1,000 mg/kg AAE significantly increased the CAT activity of duodenum and ileum and the GSH-Px activity of duodenum and jejunum (P < 0.05), and the ileum GSH-Px activity was significantly increased (P < 0.01); supplementation of 2,000 mg/kg AAE significantly increased the CAT activity of duodenum and ileum (P < 0.05). At 42 days of age, supplementation of 500 mg/kg AAE significantly increased the GSH-Px activity of ileum and the T-SOD activity of duodenum (P < 0.05), meanwhile, the T-SOD activity of jejunum was significantly increased (P < 0.01); supplementation of 1,000 mg/kg AAE significantly increased the CAT activity of jejunum and the T-SOD activity of ileum (P < 0.01), and the GSH-Px activity of jejunum was significantly increased (P < 0.05); supplementation of 2,000 mg/kg AAE significantly increased the T-SOD activity of ileum (P < 0.05), but significantly decreased the CAT activity of ileum and the GSH-Px activity of jejunum (P < 0.05). 3) The malondialdehyde (MDA) levels of 3 AAE supplementation groups were significantly decreased at 21 and 42 days of age (P < 0.05). The results suggested that dietary supplementation with AAE could improve the antioxidative capacity of small intestine in broilers.
Keywords: Antioxidant index; Artemisia argyi extract; Broiler; Small intestine.