Effect of Fennel ( Foeniculum Vulgare ) Seed Powder Consumption on Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 Gene Expression in the Liver Tissue of Growing Lambs

• Published in: Gene expression Vol. 21; no. 2; p. 21
• Main Authors: Shahsavari, Mojtaba, Mohammadabadi, Mohammadreza, Khezri, Amin, Borshch, Oleksandr, Babenko, Olena, Kalashnyk, Oleksandr, Afanasenko, Volodymyr, Kondratiuk, Vadym
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sugar Land Xia & He Publishing 01.12.2022
• Subjects: Animal feed; Animal sciences; Animals; Consumption; Diet; Dry matter; Enzymes; Essential oils; Feeds; Flavonoids; Foeniculum; Gallbladder; Gene expression; Growth factors; Growth hormones; Herbal medicine; Homeostasis; Insulin; Insulin-like growth factor I; Insulin-like growth factors; Lamb; Lipids; Liver; Liver diseases; Meat; Medicinal plants; Metabolism; Nitrogen; Nutrition research; Polymerase chain reaction; Proteins; Seeds; Sheep; Testosterone; Zoology; Iran
• ISSN: 1052-2166; 1555-3884
• DOI: 10.14218/GE.2022.00017

Background and objectivesToday, medicinal plants and phytobiotics that contain flavonoids, alkaloids, and essential oils are widely used in animal feed. These additives have many benefits, including increasing liver function and preventing certain diseases. The liver is one of the organs that plays a key role in insulin-mediated regulation of metabolism as well as in glucose, whole-body, and lipid homeostasis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) seed powder consumption on insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) gene expression in the liver tissue of growing lambs.MethodsThree groups (including 0, 10, and 20 g/kg dry matter of fennel) of animals, with 10 animals in each group, were studied. The Pfaffl method was applied to assess the real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) output.ResultsMixing fennel into the feed of lambs increased the weights of their testis and gallbladder and decreased the weight of their liver in comparison to feed without fennel. It was also found that by increasing the fennel level in the feed, the expression level of IGF1 in the liver increased significantly (p < 0.05).ConclusionsFennel has a useful effect on the expression of IGF1 in the liver tissue of sheep and may be applied to their diet to attain better liver function.