Effect of Pueraria Flavonoid Supplementation against LPS Infusion in Sheep

Using natural bioactive compounds as dietary supplements for animals’ diet seems to be a great strategy to improve the animals’ immunity and resistance against diseases. Flavonoids are well-known of their beneficial effects on health, growth, and performance. Our experiment was conducted to determine the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of puerariae flavone dietary supplementation on sheep in different doses after exposure to lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Twelve small tailed Han ruminally-cannulated rams were randomly assigned to three groups; control group; fed with a basal diet, and 50FLV and 100FLV groups which were offered the same diet and further administered with 50 mg or 100 mg of puerariae flavonoid/ kg body weight through rumen cannula for two weeks, respectively two times daily. At the end of the experiment, all animals were infused with LPS. Animals were monitored before and after infusion, clinical body parameters were recorded, and plasma samples were collected for analysis. Body temperature was significantly increased in all groups. There were significant increases in the IL-6, iNOS and COX-2 plasma levels of 50FLV group. Malnodialdhyde (MDA) levels tended to increase in control group compared to the other groups, meanwhile Glutathione (GSH) levels were significantly increased in 100FLV group. We concluded that adding 50 mg of puerarine /kg to sheep diet would enhance the inflammatory response against infection.