Abstract
Oxidative stress is an essential inducement in follicle atresia and ovarian aging, resulting in decline in female fecundity. As a natural and effective antioxidant, naringin was investigated to relieve chicken follicle atresia and ovarian aging. First, the cultured small white follicles (SWFs) from D280 hens were pretreated with 0.5 mM naringin for 24 h and then treated with H(2)O(2) for 72 h to establish the oxidative stress model to evaluate the putative attenuating effects of naringin on follicle atresia. Meanwhile, SWFs of D580 hens were treated with naringin for 72 h to examine the attenuating effect on the physiological aging of SWFs. Finally, each hen was fed with naringin at a dose of 50 mg/kg every day to explore the effect of naringin on follicular development and laying performance in D580 hens. Results showed that naringin could rescue the antioxidant capacity decline by increasing the antioxidant-related indexes and expression of antioxidation-associated genes. It could also maintain the homeostasis of SWFs in both the H(2)O(2)-induced group and natural physiological aging group. In addition, naringin increased estrogen levels, capacity of antioxidants, and the laying performance in aged laying chickens. The thickness and strength of the eggshell were increased in the naringin-treated group as well. In conclusion, this study showed that naringin is capable of relieving SWFs atresia that was induced by oxidative stress and maintaining the laying performance of aging low-yielding hens by reducing oxidative stress.