Dietary Artemisia argyi Inclusion Modulates Gastrointestinal Morphology, Immune-Related Indicators, and Bacterial Community Composition in Hu Sheep

Abstract

Simple Summary The health of the gastrointestinal tract is important for growth and productivity in sheep. Antibiotic exposure can disrupt gastrointestinal microbial homeostasis and alter mucosal structure and host responses. This study evaluated whether dietary inclusion of Artemisia argyi could mitigate gentamicin-associated gastrointestinal alterations in young Hu sheep. Forty one-month-old male Hu sheep were allocated to four treatment groups (n = 10 per group). After a 7-day gentamicin modeling phase in the Model, ML, and MH groups, gentamicin was discontinued, and the 21-day dietary intervention began (day 0). The ML and MH diets contained 1% and 3% A. argyi, respectively, whereas the Ctrl and Model groups received the basal diet. Blood samples were collected from all enrolled sheep on days 0, 7, 14, and 21, providing n = 10 animals per group for longitudinal serum analyses. Terminal laboratory outcomes based on euthanized animals used n = 3 biological replicates per group. A. argyi inclusion was associated with segment- and endpoint-specific morphological and immune-related responses and with differences in selected rumen and colonic bacterial taxa; however, global genus-level community separation was not significant in the PCoA analyses. These findings support further evaluation of A. argyi as a natural feed additive while emphasizing the limited terminal analytical replication and the need for functional validation.