Tibial dyschondroplasia (TD), a metabolic cartilage disorder in fast-growing broilers, severely impacts poultry welfare and productivity. Baicalin, a bioactive flavonoid with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, has an unstudied therapeutic potential for TD. This study paves the way in elucidating baicalin's chondroprotective mechanism through CDH11/Wnt/β-catenin signaling and evaluating its therapeutic efficacy. Notably, baicalin significantly improved TD broilers' symptoms (e.g., slow weight - gain, reduced feed intake) and up - regulated tibia morphometrics. Special staining showed abnormal cartilage enlargement in TD and self - healing groups, while histomorphometry indicated restored tibial trabecular architecture in treated groups. Mechanistically, the cartilage development-related genes CDH11, RUNX2, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were significantly up-regulated in the baicalin-treated group, and pivotal molecular factors in the Wnt/β-catenin-dependent signaling axis, which are involved in cartilage development, were up-regulated or down-regulated to different degrees. These findings establish that baicalin mitigates TD pathogenesis through CDH11-dependent activation of canonical Wnt signaling, promoting chondrocyte maturation and skeletal remodeling, which will provide both mechanistic insights into avian skeletal metabolism and a clinically translatable strategy for metabolic bone diseases.

To Cite This Article: Liu K, Li A, Mehmood K, Li Y, Sun Y and Zhang H 2025. Baicalin modulates CDH11/Wnt/β-catenin pathway: a novel therapeutic strategy against tibial dyschondroplasia in broiler chickens. Pak Vet J. http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2025.224