Penthorum chinense Prush extract alleviates aflatoxin B-induced toxicity, oxidative stress and apoptosis via mediating Nrf2 signaling pathway in the Bursa of Fabricius of broilers.

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB) is the primary mycotoxin that is responsible for the severe issues plaguing poultry farming. The study was aimed to explore the relevant pathways connected with immunity (inflammation, oxidative stress and apoptosis) in an AFB-challenged chicken by using Penthorum chinense Prush extract (PCPE) in Bursa of Fabricius (BF) of broilers. A total one hundred and eighty day-old broilers were divided into six groups: Control, AFB (3 mg/kg feed), Yin-Chen-Hao Tang extract (YCHT) (10 ml/kg feed), and PCPE groups (low 1 g/kg, medium 2 g/kg, and high 3 g/kg PCPE/kg feed) respectively. The results showed that AFB-challenged birds showed significant decrease in growth, BF weight index, serum antioxidant biomarkers and histopathological changes in BF tissues. The mRNA analysis showed that AFB upregulated the apoptosis associated genes (caspase-3, caspase-9, Bak, Bax and p53) and downregulated BCL-2. Additionally, AFB downregulated expression level of Nuclear Factor EF-2 (Nrf2) related genes (Nrf2, HO-1, NQO1 and GCLC) in the BF of broilers. The PCPE treatment showed positive impact on final weight gain, bursal index, and reversing of pathological changes in the BF of AFB-challanged broilers. PCPE ameliorated oxidative stress generated by AFB, as an increase in antioxidant enzyme activities, alleviated histopathological changes in BF, enhanced the Nrf2 expression levels and lowered the apoptosis gene expressions as compared to AFB. The findings revealed that PCPE activated the Nrf2 pathway, antioxidant defense system and modulated the apoptosis in the BF of broiler chicken.