Ursolic acid: biological functions and application in animal husbandry

Guanhui Liu; Peng Qin; Xinying Cheng; Lifei Wu; Ruoning Wang; Wei Gao

doi:10.3389/fvets.2023.1251248

Ursolic acid: biological functions and application in animal husbandry

Front Vet Sci. 2023 Oct 25:10:1251248. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1251248. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Guanhui Liu¹, Peng Qin², Xinying Cheng², Lifei Wu^{3

4}, Ruoning Wang¹, Wei Gao^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ School of Life Sciences and Food Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, China.
² Chenguang Biotechnology Group Handan Co., Ltd., Handan, China.
³ Hebei Plant Extraction Innovation Center Co., Ltd., Handan, China.
⁴ Hebei Province Plant Source Animal Health Products Technology Innovation Center, Handan, China.

Abstract

Ursolic acid (UA) is a plant-derived pentacyclic triterpenoid with 30 carbon atoms. UA has anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, antimicrobial, hepato-protective, anticancer, and other biological activities. Most studies on the biological functions of UA have been performed in mammalian cell (in vitro) and rodent (in vivo) models. UA is used in animal husbandry as an anti-inflammatory and antiviral agent, as well as for enhancing the integrity of the intestinal barrier. Although UA has been shown to have significant in vitro bacteriostatic effects, it is rarely used in animal nutrition. The use of UA as a substitute for oral antibiotics or as a novel feed additive in animal husbandry should be considered. This review summarizes the available data on the biological functions of UA and its applications in animal husbandry.

Keywords: animal husbandry; anti-inflammatory; anticancer; antimicrobial; antioxidative; antiviral activity; hepatoprotective; ursolic acid.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (NO. C2022402048) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (NO. 31802150).