Effects of parental dietary protein levels on hepatic antioxidant function and lipid metabolism in squabs

QIAO Yining; ZENG Linfei; YANG Ranya; NIU Jingyi; HU Daizi; ZHENG Xiaotong; CHENG Kang; WANG Jinrong

doi:10.13557/j.cnki.issn1002-2813.2025.04.006

Abstract：The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of parental dietary protein levels on hepatic antioxidant function and lipid metabolism in squabs.One hundred and eight pairs of healthy American White King breeding pigeons,around 10 months of age and with similar body weights were randomly divided into three groups,with six replicates each group,and six pairs in each replicate.They were fed diets with 16.00％(CP-L group),17.00％(CP-M group),and 18.00％(CP-H group)protein levels,respectively.The experiment lasted for 46 days.The results showed that compared with the CP-L group,liver triglyceride content was significantly lower in squabs of the CP-M and CP-H groups(P＜0.05),liver superoxide dismutase activity was significantly lower in squabs of the CP-M group(P＜0.05),while malondialdehyde content in the liver was significantly higher of the CP-H group(P＜0.05),the relative gene expression levels of superoxide dismutase 1 and superoxide dismutase 2 in the liver were significantly lower of the CP-M group(P＜0.05).Compared with the CP-L group,the relative gene expression level of adenosine monophosphorate-activated protein kinase α1 in the liver in CP-M group was significantly decreased(P＜0.05),and the relative gene expression level of liver acetyl-CoA carboxylase α in CP-M and CP-H groups was significantly decreased(P＜0.05).The study indicates that high dietary protein levels may cause oxidative stress in the liver of squabs,diets with 17％and 18％protein levels can improve hepatic lipid metabolism by regulating the expression of genes related to lipid metabolism.