Dietary supplement of veratric acid alleviates liver steatosis and reduces abdominal fat deposition in broilers

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and obesity are nutritional metabolic diseases that are prevalent in the poultry industry, and have a negative impact on its functioning. Veratric acid (VA) is a phenolic acid compound extracted from the Chinese herbal medicine Trollius chinensis Bunge, known for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. In this study, we used chicken hepatocytes (Leghorn male hepatoma cells) and treated with a mixture of oleic acid and palmitic acid as well as Yellow-feathered broilers fed a high-fat diet to examine the impact of VA on liver-lipid metabolism and deposition of abdominal fat. The results showed that VA (1μM) reduced the triglyceride and total cholesterol levels in the chicken hepatocytes (p < 0.05). In the broiler NAFLD model, VA significantly reduced liver TG levels (p < 0.05) without affecting growth performance. Dietary supplementation with 0.05% or 0.1% VA supplementation also significantly reduced the mRNA expression levels of key genes involved in the synthesis of fatty acids such as sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c, fatty acid synthase, and acetyl-CoA carboxylase in broiler livers. In addition, 0.1% VA reduced abdominal fat accumulation and improved blood biochemical indexes in broilers. Network pharmacology analysis suggested that VA may participate in regulating fat metabolism in broilers via the proliferator-activated receptor signaling pathway. Taken together, the study results support VA as a candidate feed additive to provide a novel strategy for preventing NAFLD and excessive fat deposition in chickens.