Abstract
This study investigated the effects of dietary capsaicinoid (CAP) supplementation on broiler chickens subjected to an inflammatory challenge induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). A total of 144 Cobb500™ male broilers (Rivelli Alimentos SA, Matheus Leme, Brazil), raised from 1 to 21 days, were randomly assigned to three treatments, with eight replicates of six birds. Treatments were a control diet (CON), a control diet with LPS administration (CON+LPS), and a control diet supplemented with 1 mg CAP/kg feed and LPS (CAP+LPS). LPS was administered intraperitoneally on days 14, 16, 18, and 20. Performance, intestinal morphometry, serum metabolites, and jejunal gene expression related to oxidative and inflammatory responses were evaluated. Slaughter was at 20 days. Data were subjected to ANOVA and means compared by Tukey's test at 0.05 significance. CON broilers exhibited the highest feed intake and a better feed conversion ratio (p < 0.05) compared to CON+LPS. CAP+LPS broilers showed higher body weight gain than CON+LPS but lower than CON broilers (p < 0.001). CON+LPS broilers had the highest crypt depth (p = 0.002). Higher mRNA expression of superoxide dismutase and catalase (p > 0.05) was observed in CON broilers. In conclusion, supplementation with a 1 mg CAP/kg diet improves the growth performance and intestinal morphometry of LPS-challenged broiler chickens.