Dietary glycyrrhizin enhances reproductive performance by improving intestinal microbiota, liver lipid metabolism and ovarian senescence in aged breeder hens

作者：Zhenwu Huang, Huchuan Liu, Guangju Wang, Huiyao Ge, Yanru Shi, Jinghai Feng, Chunmei Li, Minhong Zhang · 发表于：Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology/Journal of animal science and biotechnology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s40104-025-01288-5 · 被引用次数：5 · 研究领域：Animal Nutrition and Physiology、Pharmacological Effects of Natural Compounds、Rabbits: Nutrition, Reproduction, Health

BACKGROUND: The decline in reproductive performance of aged hens is mainly attributed to oxidative damage in reproductive organs, hepatic lipid metabolism disorders, and intestinal microbiota dysbiosis. Glycyrrhizin (GL) has been proven to enhance antioxidant capacity, regulate lipid metabolism and gut microbiota in mammals, but its efficacy in hens remains unclear. Hence, this study aimed to investigate whether dietary GL supplementation improves reproductive performance in hens during the late laying stage by modulating intestinal microbiota composition, hepatic lipid metabolism and ovarian antioxidant status. RESULTS: Dietary supplementation with 100 mg/kg GL significantly improved the egg production rate, egg quality, and hatching rate in aged breeder hens (P < 0.05). GL supplementation also increased the serum levels of HDL-C, TP and ALB, and enhanced the antioxidant capacity in both serum and ovary (P < 0.05). In addition, dietary GL elevated the serum progesterone (P4) levels by enhancing the transcription level of steroid synthesis key enzymes (CYP11A1 and 3β-HSD) in the ovary (P < 0.05). Dietary GL also promoted the synthesis and transport of vitellogenin (VTG) by upregulating the VTG-II (P < 0.05) and APOV1 (P = 0.077) expression levels in the liver, thereby increasing the number of grade follicles and small yellow follicles. Moreover, dietary GL enhanced hepatic fatty acid β-oxidation by upregulating PPARα and CPT-I (P < 0.05), and downregulating ACC expression lev...