Antioxidant molecular targets of wheat bran fermented by white rot fungi and its potential modulation of antioxidative status in broiler chickens

1. The study focused on antioxidant molecular targets of wheat bran fermented by white rot fungi (WRF) in poultry. After solid-state fermentation of wheat bran by WRF for 12 d, scanning electron microscopy found that the lignocellulose structure showed degradation and fragmentation. 2. A total of 300 1-d-old broilers were evenly divided by gender and randomly allocated into the following treatments: (1) maize-soybean meal (control group), (2) 10% of wheat bran replacing maize (10% WB group) or (3) 10% of fermented wheat bran replacing maize (10% FWB group). 3. The results indicated that the antioxidant gene expression, such as haem oxygenase-1 and glutathione-S-transferase of chicken peripheral blood mononuclear cells, of the 10% FWB group was significantly higher than that of the control group at d 35. For genes of Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxygenase 1 and reactive oxygen species modulator protein 1, the expression of the 10% FWB group was lower than that of the control group at d 21 and 35. 4. In conclusion, wheat bran fermented by WRF could increase lignocellulolytic enzyme activities and the levels of active components that further regulate the expression of antioxidant molecular targets in poultry.