Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42837745›Full record

ArticlePoultry science2026

Betulinic acid ameliorates lipopolysaccharide-induced intestinal barrier dysfunction in broilers by remodeling gut microbiota homeostasis and inhibiting the LYG2/NOD1/NF-κB signaling axis.

Zhaoping Ou, Wenjiang Yang, Wenyu Ba, Ziming Wang, Hongyi Ding, Li Kong, Jiajing Zhou, Zhuliang Tan, Muliang Li, Wei Tang and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Poultry science, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Zhaoping OuHunan Engineering Research Center of Livestock and Poultry Health Care, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan, 410128, China.
Wenjiang YangHunan Engineering Research Center of Livestock and Poultry Health Care, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan, 410128, China.
Wenyu BaHunan Engineering Research Center of Livestock and Poultry Health Care, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan, 410128, China.
Ziming WangHunan Engineering Research Center of Livestock and Poultry Health Care, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan, 410128, China.
Hongyi DingHunan Engineering Research Center of Livestock and Poultry Health Care, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan, 410128, China.
Li KongHunan Engineering Research Center of Livestock and Poultry Health Care, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan, 410128, China.
Jiajing ZhouHunan Engineering Research Center of Livestock and Poultry Health Care, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan, 410128, China.
Zhuliang TanHunan Engineering Research Center of Livestock and Poultry Health Care, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan, 410128, China; SuBait Inc, Dartmouth, NS, B2W 6K4, Canada.
Muliang LiHunan Xinwufeng Co., Ltd, Changsha, 4100005, China.
Wei TangHunan Xinwufeng Co., Ltd, Changsha, 4100005, China.
Quanwei LiHunan Engineering Research Center of Livestock and Poultry Health Care, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan, 410128, China.
Jine YiHunan Engineering Research Center of Livestock and Poultry Health Care, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan, 410128, China.
Shuiping LiuHunan Engineering Research Center of Livestock and Poultry Health Care, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan, 410128, China. Electronic address: liushuiping@hunau.edu.cn.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Betulinic acid (BA), a natural pentacyclic triterpenoid obtained from agroforestry by-products, possesses potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and intestinal-protective bioactivities. Our prior work verified that BA alleviated intestinal inflammatory damage in mouse and piglet models. Nevertheless, its protective effects and underlying molecular mechanisms against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-evoked intestinal barrier dysfunction in broilers remain poorly understood. Under basal feeding conditions, dietary BA supplementation improved ileal mucosal integrity by elevating villus height and crypt depth, upregulating tight junction genes (Occludin, ZO-1) expression, boosting antioxidant capacity, and inhibiting pro-inflammatory gene transcription. In the LPS-challenged inflammatory model, BA pretreatment rescued LPS-reduced feed intake, restored goblet cell density and epithelial microvillus ultrastructure, decreased serum DAO and LPS leakage, and relieved intestinal inflammatory overactivation. Transcriptomics screened LYG2 as a pivotal hub gene modulated by BA. Follow-up RT-qPCR and immunofluorescence verified BA blunted LPS-triggered overactivation of the LYG2/NOD1/NF-κB cascade at transcriptional and protein levels. 16S rRNA sequencing illustrated BA reversed LPS-induced gut dysbiosis via enriching beneficial Ruminococcus_torques and Enterococcus. Correlation assays indicated these two taxa positively correlated with intestinal barrier markers and negatively correlated with inflammatory genes in the LYG2/NOD1/NF-κB axis. This study unveils a dual protective mechanism of BA against LPS-mediated intestinal barrier injury in broilers: BA remodels dysregulated gut microbiota and inhibits the LYG2/NOD1/NF-κB inflammatory cascade to sustain intestinal mucosal homeostasis. BA represents a safe, green phytogenic feed additive to alleviate intestinal inflammation and cut antibiotic usage in poultry farming. Our findings provide novel insights into dietary BA as a potential nutritional strategy to mitigate ileal injury in poultry, with implications for improving gut health and productivity in broilers.

Indexed as

Betulinic acidBroilersGut microbiotaIntestinal barrier functionLipopolysaccharide

Identifiers

PMID42837745
PMCPMC13675920

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.