6-Gingerol activates the Nrf2 signaling pathway to alleviate hydrogen peroxide induced oxidative stress on primary chicken embryo hepatocytes

[Display omitted] •H2O2 treatment caused the damage of CEHs, and 6-Gin significantly alleviated CEHs damage.•H2O2 reduced the antioxidant capacity of CEHs and increased inflammatory factors, leading to cell apoptosis.•6-Gin alleviated the oxidative injury induced by H2O2, and increased the expression of antioxidant genes and proteins.•6-Gin alleviates H2O2-induced CEHs damage by promoting nuclear translocation and activating the Nrf2 signaling pathway. Oxidative stress affects production performance and meat quality of poultry. 6-gingerol (6-Gin) is the main activity component of ginger, has shown promise in alleviating oxidative stress in broilers, However, the specific protection mechanism of 6-Gin against hepatocytes oxidative damage remains unclear. The primary chicken embryo hepatocytes (CEHs) were damaged and the cell viability was decreased by H2O2, 6-Gin can alleviate the cell injure and oxidative stress. Transcriptomic analysis and further experiments showed that H2O2 significantly suppressed the expression of Nrf2, Keap1, and NQO1, as well as antioxidant enzyme activities, increased inflammatory factors, leading to cell apoptosis. In contrast, 6-Gin effectively reduced these effects by promoting Nrf 2 nuclear translocation and activating the Nrf2 signaling pathway. Furthermore, the protective effects of 6-Gin were eliminated by the Nrf2 inhibitor ML385. In conclusion, 6-Gin exerts antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects on CEHs through the Nrf2 pathway. This study provides the potential value of 6-Gin for treatment of oxidative stress in broilers.