Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
Poultry Cellular and Molecular Physiology Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
PLoS One. 2019 Apr 9;14(4):e0214839. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0214839. eCollection 2019.
The present work was carried out to investigate the effects of dietary propolis supplementation to laying Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) on egg production, egg quality, physiological and immunological aspects under heat stress conditions. A total of 200, 21-day-old, Japanese quail females were distributed equally into standard wired cages in two identical environmentally-controlled rooms (10 cages per room, 10 birds per cage). From 29-70 d of age, the quail birds in the first room remained at a normal temperature of 24°C (C group), whereas the quail birds in the second room were kept under heat stress at 35°C (HS group). Each group was further assigned to 2 propolis subgroups (5 cages per subgroup); one of them received a basal diet without propolis supplementation (-PR subgroup), while, the other received 1 g propolis/ kg basal diet (+PR subgroup). In the present study, performance and egg production of laying quail were significantly (P<0.001) impaired by HS treatment and improved by the PR treatment. Similarly, the negative and positive effects of HS and PR, respectively, were appeared on the egg shell thickness and yolk index. Stress indicators in laying quail were significantly (P<0.001) increased by HS, while, PR significantly (P<0.05) moderated these levels in the HS+PR group when compared to the HS-PR quail group. In addition to the positive impact of PR on the plasma levels of calcium, phosphorus, and albumin, it also normalized the plasma levels of alanine aminotransferase and cholesterol in the heat-stressed quail birds. Moreover, the quail birds in the HS groups expressed lower immunological aspects than those in the C group, while, the addition of propolis to the diets enhanced the immune status of laying quail birds under HS conditions. These results strongly suggest that dietary propolis supplementation could be a successful attempt to maintain the performance and egg production of laying Japanese quail at convenient levels under heat stress conditions.
本研究旨在探讨日粮中添加蜂胶对热应激条件下产蛋日本鹌鹑（Coturnix coturnix japonica）生产性能、蛋品质、生理和免疫方面的影响。将 200 只 21 日龄的日本鹌鹑母代随机分配到两个相同的环境控制室内的标准金属笼中（每个房间 10 个笼，每个笼 10 只鸟）。从 29-70 日龄，第一间房间的鹌鹑保持在 24°C 的正常温度（C 组），而第二间房间的鹌鹑保持在 35°C 的热应激条件下（HS 组）。每组进一步分为 2 个蜂胶亚组（每个亚组 5 个笼）；其中一个接受不添加蜂胶的基础日粮（-PR 亚组），另一个接受 1g/kg 基础日粮添加蜂胶（+PR 亚组）。本研究表明，产蛋鹌鹑的生产性能和产蛋率受到 HS 处理的显著影响（P<0.001），而 PR 处理则有所改善。同样，HS 和 PR 的负面影响和积极影响分别出现在蛋壳厚度和蛋黄指数上。产蛋鹌鹑的应激指标显著增加（P<0.001），而与 HS-PR 组相比，PR 显著（P<0.05）降低了 HS+PR 组的这些水平。除了 PR 对血浆中钙、磷和白蛋白水平的积极影响外，它还使热应激鹌鹑血浆中丙氨酸氨基转移酶和胆固醇的水平正常化。此外，HS 组的鹌鹑表现出比 C 组更低的免疫方面，而日粮中添加蜂胶增强了热应激条件下产蛋鹌鹑的免疫状态。这些结果强烈表明，日粮中添加蜂胶可能是维持热应激条件下产蛋日本鹌鹑生产性能和产蛋量的成功尝试。
