Biogenic Selenium Nanoparticles Synthesized Using Alginate Oligosaccharides Attenuate Heat Stress-Induced Impairment of Breast Meat Quality via Regulating Oxidative Stress, Metabolome and Ferroptosis in Broilers

Selenium (Se) is an indispensable trace element with versatile functions in antioxidant defense in poultry. In our previous study, we synthesized a novel type of biogenic selenium nanoparticle based on alginate oligosaccharides (SeNPs-AOS), and found that the particles are sized around 80 nm with an 8% Se content, and the dietary addition of 5 mg/kg of SeNPs-AOS could effectively alleviate the deleterious effects of heat stress (HS) in broilers, but it is still unclear whether SeNPs-AOS can improve the meat quality. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effects of SeNPs-AOS on breast meat quality in heat-stressed broilers, and explore the relevant mechanisms. Birds at the age of 21 days were randomly divided into four groups with six replicates per group (eight broilers per replicate) according to a 2 × 2 experimental design, using HS (33 ± 2 °C, 10 h/day vs. thermoneutral, TN, under 23 ± 1.5 °C) and SeNPs-AOS (5 mg/kg feed vs. no inclusion) as variables. The results showed that dietary SeNPs-AOS decreased the cooking loss (<i>p</i> < 0.05), freezing loss (<i>p</i> < 0.001), and shear force (<i>p</i> < 0.01) of breast muscle in heat-stressed broilers. The non-targeted metabolomics analysis of the breast muscle identified 78 differential metabolites between the HS and HS + SeNPs-AOS groups, mainly enriched in the arginine and proline metabolism, β-alanine metabolism, D-arginine and D-ornithine metabolism, pantothenate, and CoA biosynthesis pathways (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Meanwhile, supplementation with SeNPs-AOS increased the levels of the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), the activities of catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and decreased the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the breast muscle (<i>p</i> < 0.05) in broilers under HS exposure. Additionally, SeNPs-AOS upregulated the mRNA expression of <i>CAT</i>, <i>GPX1</i>, <i>GPX3</i>, <i>heme oxygenase-1</i> (<i>HO-1</i>), <i>masculoaponeurotic fibrosarcoma G</i> (<i>MafG)</i>, <i>MafK</i>, <i>selenoprotein W</i> (<i>SELENOW)</i>, <i>SELENOK</i>, <i>ferritin heavy polypeptide-1</i> (<i>FTH1</i>), <i>Ferroportin 1</i> (<i>Fpn1</i>), and <i>nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2</i> (<i>Nrf2)</i> (<i>p</i> < 0.05), while it downregulated Kelch-like ECH-associated pro-36 tein 1 (<i>Keap1</i>) and prostaglandin-endoperoxide Synthase 2 (<i>PTGS2</i>) expression (<i>p</i> < 0.05) in broilers under HS. These findings demonstrated that the dietary addition of SeNPs-AOS mitigated HS-induced oxidative damage and metabolite changes in the breast muscle of broilers, which may be related to the regulation of the Nrf2 signaling pathway and selenoprotein synthesis. In addition, SeNPs-AOS upregulated the breast muscle gene expression of anti-ferroptosis-related molecules in broilers under HS, suggesting that SeNPs-AOS can be used as novel Se supplements against HS in broilers.