Influence of Dietary Aspirin on Growth Performance, Antioxidant Status, and Mortality due to Ascites in Broiler Chickens

This study investigated the effects of dietary aspirin on growth performance, antioxidant status and mortality in the broilers subjected to cold-induced ascites. A total of 600 1-d old male broilers (Ross, 308) were randomly allotted to four treatment groups, with five replicate pens per treatment and 30 birds each. The experimental groups were kept in a cold chamber to induce ascites and were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0, 20, 40 or 80 mg of aspirin/kg diet. Aspirin had a significant effect (P < 0.05) on broiler performance since birds fed 80 mg of aspirin/kg diet had greater body weight gain and lower feed conversion ratio. Compared to other groups, 20 mg of aspirin significantly reduced malondialdehyde concentration and increased total antioxidant capacity with higher glutathione peroxidase activity in plasma (P < 0.05). Glucose, cholesterol, and triglyceride concentrations in plasma, as well as mortality due to ascites and right ventricular: total ventricular weight ratio (RV/TV) index decreased while high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration and white blood cells increased (P < 0.05) by dietary aspirin supplementation. Other parameters were not significantly affected by treatments. These results indicate that the beneficial effect of aspirin are probably related to aspirin’s ability to maintain near-tonormal levels of free radical scavenging enzymes and glutathione peroxidase bioactivity, thereby protecting cell membranes from oxidative damage via decreased lipid peroxidation.