Dietary Chlorogenic Acid Attenuates Liver Injury, Lipid Metabolic Disturbance, and Inflammatory Responses in Broilers Under High Stocking Density

Abstract

Simple Summary High stocking density can impair broiler health as live-weight load per unit area increases during growth. This study examined whether 0.1% dietary chlorogenic acid (CGA), supplied from 7 to 42 d of age, could support liver health in broilers housed at 14 or 22 birds/m2. At 42 d, the recorded live-weight densities were 35.00 and 34.48 kg/m2 in the normal-density groups without and with CGA, respectively, and 50.25 and 49.38 kg/m2 in the corresponding high-density groups. Compared with their corresponding normal-density groups, the high-density groups had lower body weights and later-stage average daily gains, whereas CGA did not significantly restore growth within either stocking density. Compared with the HD group, the HDCGA group was associated with improved hepatic antioxidant indices and less severe lipid deposition and inflammatory changes in representative liver sections. The molecular findings showed treatment-associated differences in NOX5, SREBP1, ACACA, PLA2G4A, COX-2, ALOX5, and AMPK mRNA abundance. Thus, 0.1% CGA may support hepatic health under high-density conditions, although growth recovery was not demonstrated and only one CGA dose was evaluated.