Effects of dietary supplementation of cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) essential oil on expression of genes related to antioxidant, apoptosis, detoxification, and heat shock mechanism in heat-stressed broiler chickens

Abstract

This study was carried out to evaluate the impact of cumin essential oil (CEO) supplementation on levels of certain gene expression related to antioxidant, apoptotic, detoxific, and heat shock mechanisms in the breast meat and ileum of heat-stressed broilers. The study was conducted on a 2 × 6 factorial design (heat stress + feed additive) on 600 day-old male broiler chicks for a period of 42 days. From day 7 to 42, although broilers in heat stress groups (HT) were exposed to constant chronic heat stress (36 °C), others were housed at thermoneutral ambient temperature (TN). The chicks in both conditions were fed with 6 experimental diets: C0 (basal diet with no additive), ANTIB (basal diet + 100 mg/kg chloramphenicol), VITE (basal diet + 50 IU α-tocopherol), C2 (basal diet + 200 mg/kg CEO), C4 (basal diet + 400 mg/kg CEO), C6 (basal diet+ 600 mg/kg CEO). The results showed that heat stress upregulated (except for Bcl-2) the genes related to antioxidant, apoptosis, detoxification, and heat shock mechanism. However, cumin essential oil increased the dose-dependently positive effect on certain genes in tissues of the heat-stressed broilers and downregulated (except for Bcl-2) these genes.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Caspase
• heat shock proteins
• heat stress
• essential oil
• gene expression

Acknowledgments

This manuscript is a summary of a Ph.D. thesis of the first author from Ataturk University, Institute of Health Sciences. Moreover, we would like to thank associate professor Selcuk Ozdemir for his contribution to the gene expression analysis of the thesis.

Ethical approval

All experimental protocols were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Ataturk University (No. 2019-13-166, approval date: 23 November 2018).

Disclosure statement

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

Data availability statement

Data is contained within the article.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by a grant from the Research Projects Fund of Ataturk University (Grant No. TDK-2020-8650). The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.