Therapeutic antigout and antioxidant activity of Piper betle L. in gout-induced broilers

ABSTRACT

1. The following trial investigated the antigout activity and probable mechanism of Piper betle L. herb in gout-induced broiler chickens. The antioxidant and production performance modulating activity of P. betle L. was compared against the standard antigout drug Allopurinol.

2. One hundred and sixty, one-day-old female chicks were randomly divided into five treatment groups (control, gout challenged, Allopurinol, P. betle 20 g/kg and P. betle 25 g/kg of feed) with eight birds per group (four replicates) and fed over six weeks. Gout was induced using sodium bicarbonate in water (20 g/l). The clinical signs of gout and production performance were recorded and gross and histopathology was conducted on dead birds. Serum uric acid and creatinine were estimated (on d 10, 14, 17, 19, 21 and 42) and antioxidant and xanthine oxidase enzyme activities were measured from blood samples.

3. Uric acid progressively reduced after treatment with P. betle 20 g/kg from d 17 (19.4 ± 0.62 mg/dl) to d 21 (9.81 ± 0.3 mg/dl) and xanthine oxidase activity was likewise suppressed (7.80 ± 0.04 U/mg protein), in a similar manner to Allopurinol (7.75 ± 0.05 U/mg protein), which authenticated the mechanism of antigout activity. Better feed conversion ratios (1.83 ± 0.001) and the restoration of the antioxidants superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione to normal levels were observed from birds fed P. betle 20 g/kg than with Allopurinol.

4. The data showed that P. betle can be an effective treatment for gout in broiler chicken, as an alternative to Allopurinol.

KEYWORDS:

• Gout
• broilers
• Piper betle L.
• antioxidants
• performance

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the authorities of Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, for the permission given and financial support to conduct the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).