Lead (Pb) is a common toxic heavy metal pollutant in the environment that seriously endangers the health of animals. The liver is a key target organ affected by Pb toxicity. Plant extracts allicin and quercetin have a strong antioxidant capacity that can promote the excretion of heavy metals by improving the body's antioxidant defense and chelating heavy metal ions. To explore the preventive and therapeutic effects of allicin and quercetin on Pb poisoning in chickens, 96 chickens were randomly divided into eight groups: control, Pb, allicin, quercetin, allicin + quercetin, Pb + allicin, Pb + quercetin, and Pb + allicin + quercetin groups. The chickens were given feed containing the above treatments for 90 days. The results indicated that Pb can affect the growth and development of the liver, damage the circulatory system, destroy the structure of mitochondria and nuclei in liver cells, cause an imbalance in the oxidation system, inhibit PI3K protein, and activate the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. Allicin and quercetin, alone or in combination, can improve the antioxidant capacity of the liver and alleviate liver tissue damage caused by Pb. In summary, allicin and quercetin could alleviate oxidative damage and apoptosis in the Pb-poisoned chicken liver through the PI3K signaling pathway, with stronger effects achieved by their combination.
Keywords: chicken; comparative toxicogenomics database; hepatotoxicity; lead (Pb); oxidative damage.