Our goal was to study the effects of Chinese herbal products on the lipid metabolism levels of Dongxiang blue-shelled layers (DBS). One hundred healthy 22-week-old layers were randomly divided into 3 groups: control, traditional Chinese herbal product 1 (TCM1) and traditional Chinese herbal product 2 (TCM2) groups. The two TCM groups were treated with the Chinese herbal prescription products 1 and 2. Samples were collected on the 1^st, 15^th, 30^th, 45^th, and 60^th day after TCM treatments. The blood samples were tested using an automatic biochemical analyzer and the liver samples were analyzed using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The results showed that the levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) were lower, whereas the levels of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) were higher (P<0.05) in the TCM treatment groups. Compared to the control group, the liver fat rate in the TCM1 and TCM2 groups was significantly lower. Meanwhile, fat rate of crureus and pectorals, and liver index were also lower than in the control group. There was a significant decrease in cholesterol contents of the eggs. The abdominal fat rate in the two treatment groups was lower than that of the control group. The expression level of apolipoproteinA I and apolipoproteinB 100 in the livers of the TCM1 and TCM2 groups increased; however, this increase was not significant for the in apolipoproteinB 100 levels. In conclusion, the TCM prescriptions have positive effects on the regulation of lipid metabolism through a reduction in the cholesterol levels of eggs and the upregulation of apolipoproteinA I and apolipoproteinB 100 mRNA expression levels of in the liver.

Key words: ApolipoproteinA I, ApolipoproteinB 100, DBS, Lipid metabolism, TCM