Description
Bile salt hydrolase (BSH), a gateway enzyme for host bile metabolism, is a promising gut microbiome target for developing innovative alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) for enhanced animal production and health. Specifically, we hypothesize that dietary supplementation of BSH inhibitors could promote host lipid metabolism and energy harvest, consequently enhancing feed efficiency and body weight gain in food animals. We have identified several promising BSH inhibitors recently. In this study, we evaluated in vivo efficacy of the BSH inhibitor using chicken model system. Besides chicken growth parameters, serum chemical concentration, and bile acid profiles. Transcriptome analyses of liver and intestinal samples showed that carnosic acid treatment led to significant differential expression of a panel of genes involved in lipid metabolism and bile acid metabolism.