{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,30]],"date-time":"2026-05-30T01:18:14Z","timestamp":1780103894607,"version":"3.54.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,26]],"date-time":"2023-09-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1695686400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Jiangsu Provincial Double-Innovation Team Program","award":["JSSCTD202147"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JSSCTD202147"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012246","name":"Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["JSSCTD202147"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JSSCTD202147"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012246","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.mdpi.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Heat stress can cause intestinal inflammation, impaired barrier integrity, and decreased immunity in poultry. While zinc is known to mitigate the adverse effects of heat stress, how the dietary supplementation of different sources and levels of it can improve the heat stress capacity of Chinese landraces remains unclear. This study investigated Xueshan chickens, which are an important local breed in China. The effects of different levels of ZnS and Zn-Prot M on their intestinal immune function under heat stress were compared. We found that different levels of ZnS and Zn-Prot M could effectively reduce the secretion level of IL-6 in the serum, and 60 mg\/kg was optimal. Compared with ZnS, Zn-Prot M significantly increased duodenal villus height and VH\/CD ratio. ZnS and Zn-Prot M effectively increased the villus height and villus width in the jejunum and ileum at 74 and 88 days old, with the 60 and 90 mg\/kg groups outperforming other groups, and Zn-Prot M was more effective than ZnS. Both ZnS and Zn-Prot M significantly down-regulated TNF-\u03b1, IL-1\u03b2, and MyD88 in 102-day-old duodenum, and IL-1\u03b2, IL-6, and NFKBIA in jejunum and ileum at 74, 88, and 102 days old, with 60 mg\/kg Zn-Prot M determined as optimal. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that Zn-Prot M is superior to ZnS in improving intestinal immunity in Xueshan chickens, and 60 mg\/kg is the optimal addition dose.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani13193025","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,26]],"date-time":"2023-09-26T08:55:01Z","timestamp":1695718501000},"page":"3025","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Effects of Zinc Source and Level on the Intestinal Immunity of Xueshan Chickens under Heat Stress"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1034-5710","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jian","family":"Jin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Comparative Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mengxiao","family":"Xue","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuchen","family":"Tang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Comparative Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liangliang","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Comparative Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ping","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yun","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0500-5292","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Demin","family":"Cai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xugang","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4661-3027","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ming-an","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Comparative Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"},{"name":"Joint International Research Laboratory of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"},{"name":"Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonosis, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"},{"name":"Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety of Ministry of Education of China, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Akbarian, A., Michiels, J., Degroote, J., Majdeddin, M., Golian, A., and De Smet, S. 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