Protective effects of sodium humate on the intestinal barrier damage of Salmonella Typhimurium‐challenged broilers

Abstract Salmonella Typhimurium ( S. Typhimurium ) infections can lead to severe intestinal damage and reduce growth performance in broilers. Thus, this study examined the potential mitigating impact of sodium humate (HNa) on intestinal barrier damage resulting from S. Typhimurium infection in broilers. A total of 320 1‐day‐old Arbor Acres broilers were randomly assigned into 5 treatments with 8 replicates. On d 22–24, broilers in the CON group were challenged with 1 ml of PBS, while broilers in the other groups were challenged with 1 ml of 3 × 10 9 CFU/ml S. Typhimurium , daily. Dietary administration with 4 g/kg of HNa increased ( P < 0.05) the final body weight, jejunal secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA), total antioxidant capacity (T‐AOC), total superoxide dismutase (T‐SOD), and catalase (CAT) levels as compared with the MOD group broilers. Furthermore, HNa alleviated intestinal barrier damage by increasing villus height (VH), upregulating protein expression of Occludin, Claudin‐1, and zonula occludens‐1 (ZO‐1), inhibiting toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4)/nuclear factor kappa‐B (NF‐κB) signaling pathway activation, and decreasing the secretion of inflammatory cytokines ( P < 0.05). Collectively, the present study showed that HNa mitigated intestinal barrier damage induced by S. Typhimurium infection in broilers.