Methylsulfonylmethane ( MSM ) is an organic, sulfur-containing compound widely used as a dietary supplement to improve joint health and treat arthritic pain. An experiment was conducted to study the effects of feeding 0.05% MSM to broilers exposed to diet-induced oxidative stress on tissue MSM distribution, growth performance, oxidative stress biomarkers, and immune responsivity. A total of 528 birds were allocated to 4 dietary treatments (fresh oil-no MSM, fresh oil-MSM, oxidized oil-no MSM, oxidized oil-MSM) as provided ad libitum to 11 replicate cages of 12 birds per treatment. Blood and tissue samples were collected to analyze MSM concentrations, and oxidative stress biomarkers including concentrations of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances ( TBARS ), total antioxidant capacity ( TAC ), total glutathione, and glutathione peroxidase ( GPx ) and reductase ( GR ) activities. Additionally, blood samples collected at day 25 were used to quantify T-cell ( TC ) populations using flow cytometry. Overall, MSM was quantified in all tissues and plasma samples of MSM-treated groups at all time points. Oxidized oil reduced ( P = 0.006) feed intake over the 21-d feeding period, but MSM did not affect growth equally across time points. No effects ( P > 0.2) of MSM or oil type were observed on TC populations. In the presence of oxidized oil, MSM reduced ( P = 0.013) plasma TBARS and increased ( P = 0.02) liver GPx at day 21, and increased ( P = 0.06) liver GR at day 7. Irrespective of dietary oil type, groups supplemented with MSM showed higher plasma TAC at day 7 ( P = 0.023), liver GPx activity at day 21 ( P = 0.003), and liver GR activity at day 7 ( P = 0.004) compared with groups not receiving MSM. In conclusion, 0.05% dietary MSM supplementation partially protected birds from oxidative stress but did not affect immune cell profiles.

Apart from its role as a digestive and absorptive organ, the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is a vital immune organ that encompasses roughly 70 % of the total immune cells of the body. As such, the physical, chemical and nutrient composition of the diet influences overall GI function, effectively as an immune organ. With the improvement in feed technology, agro-industrial co-products that are high in fibre have been widely used as a feed ingredient in the diets of pigs and poultry. Arabinoxylan (AX) and mannan are the most abundant hemicellulosic polysaccharides present in cereal grain and co-product ingredients used in the livestock industry. When monogastric animals consume diets containing high amounts of AX and mannans, stimulation of GI immune cells may occur. This involves the activation of several cellular and molecular pathways of the immune system and requires a considerable amount of energy and nutrients to be expended by the animal, which may ultimately influence overall health and growth performance of animals. Therefore, a better understanding of the role of AX and mannan in immune modulation will be helpful in modulating untoward GI immune responses, thereby minimising nutrient and energy expenditure toward this effort. This review will summarise pertinent research on the role of oligosaccharides and polysaccharides containing AX and mannans in immune modulation in order to preserve gut integrity.

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Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is an economically important disease, and ingestion of soy isoflavones (ISF) may benefit PRRSV-infected pigs due to demonstrated anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties. The objective of this experiment was to recreate immunological effects previously observed in young pigs infected with PRRSV receiving ISF and determine how those effects influence growth performance during the entire growth period from weaning to market. In total, 96 weaned barrows were group housed in a biosafety level-2 containment facility and allotted to 1 of 3 experimental treatments that were maintained throughout the study: noninfected pigs received an ISF-devoid control diet (NEG, n = 24), and infected pigs received either the control diet (POS, n = 36) or that supplemented with total ISF in excess of 1,600 mg/kg (ISF, n = 36). Following a 7-d adaptation, weanling pigs were inoculated intranasally with either a sham-control (PBS) or live PRRSV (1 × 105 TCID50/mL, strain NADC20). After inoculation, individual blood samples (n = 8 to 12/treatment) were routinely collected to monitor viral clearance and hematological parameters, including serum neutralizing anti-PRRSV antibody production. Pen-based oral fluids were used to monitor PRRSV clearance at later growth stages. A 1- or 2-way ANOVA was performed to compare experimental treatments depending on whether the outcome was repeatedly measured. In general, PRRSV infection decreased performance during early growth phases, resulting in 5.4% lower final BW for POS vs. NEG pigs (P < 0.05). Dietary ISF elicited inconsistent effects on growth performance, increased (P < 0.05) neutrophil cell counts and the relative proportion of memory T-cells, and decreased (P < 0.05) the time to full PRRSV clearance from oral fluids. Dietary ISF also elicited earlier, more robust anti-PRRSV neutralizing antibody production when compared with POS pigs. Additionally, and most notably, POS pigs experienced ~50% greater infection-related mortality rate vs. ISF pigs (P < 0.05), which may have significant economic implications for producers. Overall, dietary ISF ingestion supported immune responses and reduced mortality in PRRSV-infected pigs when fed to growing pigs though the biological mechanism of these effects remains unclear.

Attenuation of host IL-10 activity during Eimeria infection may elicit a robust Th1 response to eliminate the parasite from the gut epithelium. An experiment was conducted to study the effects of feeding IL-10 neutralizing antibody delivered via a dried egg product ( DEP ) on growth performance, immune responsivity, and gut health outcomes during a severe challenge with either Eimeria acervulina (study 1) or Eimeria tenella (study 2) following FDA CVM #217 protocol to test anticoccidial products. A total of 720 male Ross 308 chicks were used in each study, with 15 replicate cages of 12 birds and the following 4 treatments: sham-inoculated (uninfected) control diet ( UCON ), Eimeria -infected control diet ( ICON ), and Eimeria -infected control diet supplemented with DEP at 2 levels (165 [I-165] or 287 [I-287] U/tonne in study 1 and 143 [I-143] or 287 [I-287] U/tonne in study 2). Individual birds assigned to infected treatment groups received a single oral dose of either 200,000 E. acervulina (study 1) or 80,000 E. tenella (study 2) oocysts at 12 d of age (i.e., d post inoculation [ DPI ] 0), whereas uninfected birds were sham-inoculated with tap water. A one-way ANOVA was performed on outcomes including growth performance, hematology, serum chemistry profiles, immunophenotyping profiles, and intestinal lesion scores. In both studies, DPI 0 to 7 weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio were worse ( P < 0.05) in all infected groups compared with the UCON group. Compared with ICON, DEP supplementation elicited no differences on overall growth performance. Histopathology and lesion scores revealed severe damage to the gut epithelium owing to the Eimeria challenge, yet DEP supplementation did not improve these outcomes or oocyst shedding, hematological measurements, or serum chemistry. However, DEP supplementation improved ( P < 0.05) the percentage of circulating CD3 + cells at 6 DPI in study 2. These results indicate that DEP does not appear to elicit a coccidiostatic effect during a severe infection with E. acervulina or E. tenella .