Research note: Effects of dietary bile acids supplementation on hepatic lipid accumulation and fatty acid profile of hens at late laying cycle

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary bile acids (BAs) addition on hepatic lipid accumulation and fatty acid profile of late-phase laying hens. A total of 1080 healthy 76-week-old Hy-line Brown hens in the late-laying phase were randomly assigned to 4 treatments, and fed a basal diet added with 0 (control), 200 (BA200), 300 (BA300), and 500 (BA500) mg/kg BAs, respectively. The results showed that BAs supplementation significantly decreased steatotic foci and lipid droplets in hepatocytes, minimized vacuoles, and increased normal hepatocytes. Besides, BAs addition reduced the hepatic content of C20:0, C22:0, and C24:0, and up-regulated the mRNA expression levels of HSL and FABP₄ in the livers of laying hens (linear and quadratic, P < 0.05). Moreover, in comparison with the control group, BA200 group significantly elevated C17:0 and C20:2 concentrations (P < 0.05), and 300 mg/kg had significantly lower triglyceride content and mRNA expression levels of FAS and SCD in the liver of laying hens (P < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary BAs supplementation decreased liver lipid accumulation and changed fatty acid profile, benefiting the liver health for late-phase laying hens.