Curcumin Supplementation Improves Growth Performance and Anticoccidial Index by Improving the Antioxidant Capacity, Inhibiting Inflammatory Responses, and Maintaining Intestinal Barrier Function in -Infected Broilers.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary curcumin supplementation on growth performance, anticoccidial index, antioxidant capacity, intestinal inflammation, and cecum microbiota in broilers infected with . A total of 234 one-day-old broilers were categorized into three treatments, with six replicates per treatment containing 13 broilers each. The three treatments included the control group, group, and + curcumin (200 mg/kg) group. The feeding trial lasted for 42 days, during which the broilers were orally administered with 0.9% saline or 5 × 10 oocysts on day 14 of the study. On day 17 and day 21, one bird per replicate was selected for slaughtering. Results indicated an increased survival rate and anticoccidial index and improved productive performance in coccidia-infected broilers with curcumin supplementation. Furthermore, curcumin enhanced the serum antioxidant capacity in -infected broilers, evidenced by increased serum catalase activity (3d, 7d), as well as decreased malondialdehyde level (3d, 7d) and nitric oxide synthase activity (7d) ( < 0.05). Curcumin also improved intestinal inflammation and barrier function, evidenced by the downregulation of (3d, 7d), TNF-alpha (3d, 7d), and (7d) and the up-regulated mRNA levels of (7d), (; 3d, 7d), and (3d, 7d) in the ceca of infected broilers ( < 0.05). infection significantly disrupted cecum microbial balance, but curcumin did not alleviate cecum microbial disorder in broilers infected with . Collectively, curcumin supplementation enhanced growth performance and anticoccidial index in -infected broilers via improving antioxidant ability and cecum inflammation without affecting cecum microbiota.