Effect of dietary levels of lavender oil on Muc2 gene expression in broiler chickens

In this study, the expression of MUC2 gene related to immunity in Arian strain broiler chickens was investigated and its expression changes were investigated by adding different levels of lavender essential oil. The experiment was conducted in the form of a completely randomized design with 5 treatments and 4 repetitions, and each repetition included 25 pieces of chicken. Experimental treatments included: basic diet, basic diet containing 100 mg of probiotic, 150 mg of antibiotic, 200 mg of lavender essential oil and 400 mg of lavender essential oil. In order to investigate the expression of the MUC2 gene, first, total RNA was extracted from the genome part of the intestinal tissue of chickens of different treatments, and after making cDNA from the samples, the expression of the gene was analyzed using Real Time PCR method. The findings were analyzed using the GLM method of SAS statistical software (9.1) and the mean of the treatments were compared using Duncan's test. The results showed that the expression of MUC2 gene in intestinal tissue increased, but there was no significant difference in different levels of treatments. The findings of this study showed that the response to sheep red blood cells, immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M was not affected by the treatments and the expression of the MUC2 gene increased in the treated broilers. Therefore, according to the fact that the use of lavender medicinal plant causes the development of intestinal flora and this also causes the increase of mucin secretion in the intestine. Therefore, adding lavender to the diet of broiler chickens due to its probiotic role improves the immune system and prevents diseases such as ascites, and also causes positive effects on the health of the digestive system.