Therapeutic antigout and antioxidant activity of Piper betle L. in gout-induced broilers

1. The following trial investigated the antigout activity and probable mechanism of Piper betle L. herb in gout-induced broiler chickens. The antioxidant and production performance modulating activity of P. betle L. was compared against the standard antigout drug Allopurinol. 2. One hundred and sixty, one-day-old female chicks were randomly divided into five treatment groups (control, gout challenged, Allopurinol, P. betle 20 g/kg and P. betle 25 g/kg of feed) with eight birds per group (four replicates) and fed over six weeks. Gout was induced using sodium bicarbonate in water (20 g/l). The clinical signs of gout and production performance were recorded and gross and histopathology was conducted on dead birds. Serum uric acid and creatinine were estimated (on d 10, 14, 17, 19, 21 and 42) and antioxidant and xanthine oxidase enzyme activities were measured from blood samples. 3. Uric acid progressively reduced after treatment with P. betle 20 g/kg from d 17 (19.4 +/- 0.62 mg/dl) to d 21 (9.81 +/- 0.3 mg/dl) and xanthine oxidase activity was likewise suppressed (7.80 +/- 0.04 U/mg protein), in a similar manner to Allopurinol (7.75 +/- 0.05 U/mg protein), which authenticated the mechanism of antigout activity. Better feed conversion ratios (1.83 +/- 0.001) and the restoration of the antioxidants superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione to normal levels were observed from birds fed P. betle 20 g/kg than with Allopurinol. 4. The data showed that P. betle can be an effective treatment for gout in broiler chicken, as an alternative to Allopurinol.