{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T17:10:04Z","timestamp":1785431404049,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"14","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,18]],"date-time":"2026-07-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784332800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012431","name":"Jiangsu Provincial Agricultural Science and Technology Independent Innovation Fund","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["CX (22)3196"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CX (22)3196"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012431","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["CX (22)3196"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CX (22)3196"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/0335n2618","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Bamboo leaf flavonoids (BLFs) possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities; however, their effects in aged laying hens remain unclear. This study investigated the effects of dietary BLF supplementation on production performance, egg quality, and liver health in aged laying hens. The results showed that compared with the control group, BLF significantly improved albumen height, yolk weight, and Haugh units. Histological examination showed that aged laying hens exhibited hepatic steatosis and vacuolar degeneration, whereas BLF supplementation alleviated these pathological changes. In addition, serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were significantly reduced in hens fed BLF, indicating that liver cell damage had been alleviated. BLF supplementation increased the hepatic glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activities while decreasing the malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, suggesting enhanced antioxidant capacity. Network pharmacology analysis identified major flavonoid components (quercetin, kaempferol, and luteolin) and inflammation-related targets, including IL-6, TNF, and IL-1\u03b2. Molecular docking analysis demonstrated strong binding affinities between BLF active components and these key inflammatory targets. Consistently, Western blot analysis showed that BLF reduced the expression of NF-\u03baB, IL-6, and TNF-\u03b1 in the liver. In conclusion, dietary BLF supplementation improved egg quality, enhanced hepatic antioxidant capacity, and alleviated liver inflammation in aged laying hens. These beneficial effects may be associated with the regulation of inflammatory signaling pathways, highlighting the potential of BLF as a functional feed additive.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani16142231","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,20]],"date-time":"2026-07-20T02:32:08Z","timestamp":1784514728000},"page":"2231","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Effects of Dietary Bamboo Leaf Flavonoids on Egg Quality, Liver Health, and Inflammatory Responses in Aged Laying Hens"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Xubin","family":"Du","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"},{"name":"Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety of Ministry of Education, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"},{"name":"Single Molecule Biochemistry & Biomedicine Laboratory (Sinmolab), Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Junjun","family":"Yuan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety of Ministry of Education, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"},{"name":"Single Molecule Biochemistry & Biomedicine Laboratory (Sinmolab), Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiawen","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4803-8580","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Debing","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"355","DOI":"10.1111\/nure.12107","article-title":"Eggs: The uncracked potential for improving maternal and young child nutrition among the world\u2019s poor","volume":"72","author":"Iannotti","year":"2014","journal-title":"Nutr. 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