Tier 4 — mechanistic

Effect of fisetin and probiotic supplementation on erythrocyte osmotic fragility, malondialdehyde concentration and superoxide dismutase activity in broiler chickens exposed to heat stress

Ogbuagu NE, Aluwong T, Ayo JO, Sumanu VO
Journal of Veterinary Medical Science 2018 Volume 80, issue 12, pages 1895-1900

Bibliography

PubMed
PMID 30404955
PubMed Central
PMC6305513
DOI
10.1292/jvms.18-0477
Funding
No external funding source stated in the manuscript.
Competing interests
No conflict of interest was declared in the manuscript.

Study snapshot

DesignRandomised controlled veterinary trial in day-old broiler chickens exposed to natural heat stress, comparing fisetin, a probiotic, and their combination against untreated controls.
ModelSixty day-old broiler chickens, divided into four groups: control (distilled water), fisetin (5 mg/kg), probiotic (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, 4.125×10^6 cfu/100 ml), and fisetin+probiotic combined.
SampleN=60 broiler chickens (assumed 15/group based on a 4-group design); blood sampled from 42-day-old birds.
InterventionOral fisetin 5 mg/kg and/or probiotic Saccharomyces cerevisiae, administered daily for 7 days.
Duration7 days of oral administration; outcome measures assessed at 42 days of age.
EndpointsErythrocyte osmotic fragility (EOF) at 0.5% NaCl; Serum malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration; Serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity

What the study showed, in plain terms

This is a veterinary and agricultural science paper, not human or even mammalian medical research — it studies broiler chickens under heat stress, a major cause of poor growth and mortality in poultry farming. It is included in this Data Center for its antioxidant mechanism data, not as evidence relevant to human fisetin use.

Heat-stressed chickens given fisetin, a probiotic, or both showed less red blood cell fragility, lower markers of oxidative damage (malondialdehyde), and higher activity of the body's own antioxidant enzyme (superoxide dismutase) compared with untreated heat-stressed birds. The fisetin-plus-probiotic combination worked better than either alone.

The take-home point for a human-focused reader is narrow: this adds another animal species and another stress model (heat stress in poultry) to the broader evidence that fisetin has measurable antioxidant activity in vivo, at a relatively low oral dose (5 mg/kg). It says nothing about human dosing, human heat tolerance or any clinical outcome, and readers should not draw any health conclusion for people from a broiler-chicken feeding trial.

Key findings

  • At 0.5% NaCl, erythrocyte osmotic fragility was significantly lower in fisetin (34.26 ± 0.98%), probiotic (35.65 ± 0.81%) and fisetin+probiotic (34.25 ± 1.98%) groups than in controls (48.42 ± 0.40%, p<0.05).
  • Serum malondialdehyde was significantly lower in fisetin (14.37 ± 1.15 nmol/l), probiotic (5.66 ± 1.06 nmol/l) and fisetin+probiotic (4.14 ± 0.58 nmol/l) groups than in controls (22.64 ± 2.95 nmol/l, p<0.05).
  • Superoxide dismutase activity was significantly higher in fisetin (6.34 ± 0.24 IU/l), probiotic (5.67 ± 0.09 IU/l) and fisetin+probiotic (5.93 ± 0.13 IU/l) groups than in controls (5.37 ± 0.09 IU/l, p<0.05).
  • The fisetin+probiotic combination produced the largest reduction in oxidative damage markers, suggesting an additive or synergistic antioxidant effect between fisetin and the probiotic in heat-stressed broilers.

What this study can and cannot tell us

This is a broiler-chicken agricultural/veterinary study, not a mammalian or human model; species differences in fisetin metabolism, thermoregulation and gut physiology mean these findings cannot be extrapolated to human heat stress or human antioxidant status.

The paper does not report a formal funding source and provides limited detail on randomisation and blinding methodology, group sizes per arm, or statistical power. It should be treated as low-certainty, single-study evidence even within its own animal model.

Editorial review

Reviewed by the Biohack Blueprint research team

Last verified

Dr. Khaled Mahmoud, MBBChCritical Care Medicine, Longevity Science & Editorial Direction Dr. Amr Yasser, PhDCardiometabolic, Musculoskeletal, Gut & Bioavailability Dr. Abdulla Mostafa, PhDCellular Senescence, Neurological, Mitochondrial & Brain-Ageing Biology