Jawad et al., J. Anim. Plant Sci. 24(4):2014 1012 EFFECT OF AZADIRACHTA INDICA ON THE HEPATO-RENAL FUNCTIONS IN BROILERS CHICKENS Z. Jawad, M. Younus, M. U. Rehman, R. Munir * , A. Maqbool ** , W. Shahzad *** , S. Masood **** and K. Muhammad ***** Department of Pathology, ** Department of Parasitology, **** Department of Anatomy and Histology, ***** Department of Microbiology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan; * Veterinary Research Institute, Lahore, Pakistan; *** Livestock Production Research Institute, Bahadarnagar, Okara, Pakistan Corresponding Author: zahid_bashir121@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Most of the commercial poultry growers use antibiotics for growth promotion and to many disadvantages like higher rearing cost, adverse side effects on health of birds, prolonged withdrawal period and residual effects. Some plants and their extracts improve feed intake and enzymatic activity of the birds. A few of these herbs have antimicrobial, Coccidiostatic or anthelmintic effects. A study was conducted at University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS), Lahore to see the effects of neem (azadirachta indica) on the hepato-renal functions in broilers chickens. Experiment was conducted on 144 day old commercial broilers chickens for a period of 42 days. The birds were equally divided into three groups; A, B and C with 48 chicks in each group. Each group was further subdivided into four subgroups with 12 birds in each subgroup. Dry neem leaf powder was added in feed of birds @ 2 grams/kg (A1, A2, A3); 4grams/kg (B1, B2, B3) and 6 grams/kg (C1, C2, C3). Subgroups A1, B1and C1were treated from 0-42 days of their life; subgroups A2, B2and C2 were fed with the herb from14-42 days, whereas subgroups A3, B3and C3 were given neem leaves from 28- 42 days. Birds of subgroups A4, B4 and C4 were kept as untreated controls. On 42 nd day, significantly (p<0.05) decreased serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and aspartate aminotranferase (AST) levels were recorded in birds of subgroups A1, B1, and C1 as compared to other subgroups within their respective main groups. Serum creatinine and especially serum uric acid values showed a decreasing trend with increased level of neem leaf meal. It was concluded that azadirachta indica at limited dose rate might be used as hepatoprotecter in commercial poultry without any toxic effects and it was also concluded that proteins in the diets were more effectively utilized in the neem treated birds. Key words: azadirachta indica, growth promoter, commercial poultry, serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), serum creatinine and serum uric acid. Key words: INTRODUCTION In the modern poultry farming there is a major demand to produce high quality poultry meat and egg at low price without rely on antibiotics and other medicinal use in poultry feed and water. Many synthetic drugs and growth promoters are being supplemented to the broilers to attain more weight gain in lesser time, but the use of such drugs have shown many disadvantages like higher rearing cost, adverse side effects on health of birds, prolonged withdrawal period and residual effects. Continuous feeding of antibiotics to chickens results in accumulation of the antibiotic residues in meat that can be transferred to the humans. Use of antibiotics in farm animals resulted in a dramatic increase in the deaths and illness associated with antibiotic resistance (Newman, 2002). Since consumers are aware of the residual effects of antibiotics in poultry meat that is why they demand drug-free food products. This has led to the search of alternative natural growth enhancers such as plants and their extracts.The scientists are again concentrating on the use of, one time honored, ancient medicinal system to find beneficial herbs and plants, which can be safely used to increase the productivity of animals and poultry. One such plant is neem (Azadirachta indica) that has been shown to have important medicinal properties (Biswas et al., 2002). In Pakistan the neem is being cultivated throughout Sindh, lower Balochistan, Southern Punjab and Southern KPK. The neem leaves extract have nimbin, nimbinene, 6-desacetylnimbiene, nimbandiol, nimbolide and quercetin (Mitra et al., 2000). This herb has different medicinal properties like antibacterial, antifungal, hepatoprotective, antiviral and antiprotozoal and has no side effects (Kale et al., 2003). Neem plays an important role as a growth promoter due to its antibacterial and hepatoprotective properties (Padalwar, 1994). Neem leaves contain biological active components that affect the feed utilization. These biological active components may also change the hematological and serum biochemical substances of animals (Kausik et al., 2008; and Akpan et al., 2008). The Journal of Animal & Plant Sciences, 24(4): 2014, Page: 1012-1018 ISSN: 1018-7081