Oxidative stress impairs the meat quality of broiler by damaging mitochondrial function, affecting calcium metabolism and leading to ferroptosis

OBJECTIVE: This work was conducted to investigate the effects of oxidative stress on meat quality, mitochondrial function, calcium metabolism and ferroptosis of broilers. METHODS: In this study, a total of 144 one-day-old male Ross 308 chicks were divided into 3 groups (control group, saline group, and hydrogen peroxide [H(2)O(2)] group) with 6 replicates of 8 broilers each. The study lasted for 42 d. The broilers in the saline and H(2)O(2) groups were intraperitoneally injected with 0.75% saline and 10.0% H(2)O(2) on the 16th and 37th day of the experimental period respectively, the injection volumes were 1.0 mL/kg of broiler body weight. On the 42nd day of the experimental period, two chicks were randomly selected from each cage, a total of thirty-six chicks were stunned by electric shock and slaughtered to collect breast muscle samples. RESULTS: The H(2)O(2) exposure reduced pH value, increased drip loss and shear force of breast meat (p<0.05), impaired the ultrastructure and function of mitochondria. The H(2)O(2) exposure damaged the antioxidant system in mitochondria, excessive reactive oxygen species carbonylation modified calcium channels on mitochondria, which impaired the activities of key enzymes on calcium channel, resulted in the increased calcium concentration in cytoplasm and mitochondria (p<0.05). In addition, the H(2)O(2) exposure increased the iron content and lipid peroxidation (p<0.05), which induced ferroptosis. CONCLUSION: Oxidative stress could impair meat quality by causing mitochondrial dysfunction, resulting in calcium metabolism disorder and ferroptosis.