Abstract:

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of berberine hydrochloride on lipid metabolism, endocrine and antioxidan function of meat rabbit. 128 New Zealand rabbits with 50-day-old and similar body weight were randomly allotted into four groups. One group was the control group and the others were the treating groups. There were thirty-two replicates in each group and one rabbits were used in per replicate. The experiment was designed by single factor random arrangement. The rabbits in the control group were fed with the basal diet. And the rabbits in the three treating groups were fed the basal diets with 10, 20 and 30 mg·kg^-1 berberine hydrochloride supplementation, respectively. The whole experiment lasted thirty-four days. The duration of the preliminary experiment was 7 d and the duration of the formal experiment was 27 d. The results showed that: with increased supplementation level of berberine, the concentration of ether extract, triglyceride and total cholesterol in longissimus dorsi and liver and the concentration of triglyceride, total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in serum decreased, and the concentration of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in serum and the activity of lipoprotein lipase and hepatic lipase in liver increased; every supplementation level of berberine increased the level of growth hormone, triiodothyronine and insulin in serum and decreased the level of glucagon and the concentration of glucose in serum (P<0.05 or P<0.01); the 20 and 30 mg·kg^-1 supplementation levels of berberine increased the level of tetraiodothyronine in serum(P<0.01); with increased supplementation level of berberine, the activity of total superoxide dismutase increased and the concentration of maleic dialdehyde decreased. The results suggest that: with the supplementation of berberine to the diet of meat rabbits, the lipid metabolism could be improved, the endocrine system could be regulated and controlled, and the antioxidan function could be enhanced.