Dietary supplementation with pioglitazone hydrochloride and l-carnosine improves the growth performance, muscle fatty acid profiles and shelf life of yellow-feathered broiler chickens

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary pioglitazone hydrochloride (PGZ) and l-carnosine (LC) supplementation on the growth performance, meat quality, antioxidant status, and meat shelf life of yellow-feathered broiler chickens. Five hundred broiler chickens were randomly assigned into 4 experimental diets using a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement with 2 PGZ supplemental levels (0 and 15 mg/kg) and 2 LC supplemental levels (0 and 400 mg/kg) in basal diets for 28 d. The feed-to-gain ratio decreased whereas the average daily gain increased with PGZ supplementation. Greater dressing percentages, contents of intramuscular fat (IMF) in breast and thigh muscles, C18:3n-6, C18:1n-9 and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) percentages of thigh muscle were observed with PGZ addition. Additionally, significant synergistic effects between PGZ and LC on the C18:1n-9 and MUFA contents were found. Supplementation with LC decreased drip loss, cooking loss and total volatile basic nitrogen, and increased the redness (a∗) value, the superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities in thigh muscles. Moreover, the malondialdehyde content decreased when diets were supplemented with LC, and there was a synergistic effect between PGZ and LC. Additionally, the mRNA abundance of lipogenesis-related genes, such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), PPARγ co-activator 1α and fatty acid-binding protein 3, increased with PGZ supplementation, and relevant antioxidation genes, such as nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 and superoxide dismutase 1, were enhanced with LC supplementation. In conclusion, the results indicated that the supplementation of PGZ and LC could improve the growth performance, antioxidant ability, IMF content, and meat shelf life of yellow-feathered broiler chickens.