Lycopene - Based Diet Reduces the Expression of Inflammatory Mediators

Climate change and extremely high temperatures, in addition to infections and diseases, pose significant challenges to rabbit production and rearing. This research investigates the impact and influence of lycopene supplementation on lipid profiles, oxidative biomarkers, immune function, and the transcription profile of inflammatory mediators in rabbits. The results highlight the effects of lycopene, which play a role in regulating the immune system. Total lipid concentration decreased significantly compared with the control. The amounts of immunoglobulins G (IgG), E (IgE), M (IgM), and A (IgA) were much higher when treated with 200 and 400 mg/kg of lycopene. The MDA, MYO, and PC values were significantly reduced in all treatments. A treatment of 400 mg/kg lycopene significantly lowered the amount of MDA (0.318 nmol/ml), while the control group had 0.846 nmol/ml. The MYO level was 2.303 ng/mg, while it was 5.097 ng/mg in the control group. This difference means that the 400 mg/kg lycopene treatment cut MYO levels by almost half. Similarly, PC levels were much lower in treatments a and b (1.798 and 1.343 nmol/ml, respectively) than in the control group (2.477 nmol/ml). The expression of the COX-2 gene showed a low fold change in treatments a and b, with 0.727 and 0.374, respectively, compared with the control group. Similarly, with iNOS and other genes expressions, which were significantly downregulated compared with control. This study could be used in the future to look at the gene expression profile, immune response, and inflammatory effects of possible supplements or other conditions.