Combination of probiotics and coccidiosis vaccine enhances protection against an Eimeria challenge

Abstract

Coccidiosis is endemic in the commercial broiler industry capable of inflicting devastating economic losses to poultry operations. Vaccines are relatively effective in controlling the disease; their efficacy could potentially be improved with concurrent use of probiotics as evaluated in this study using an Eimeria challenge. Day of hatch 400 Cobb-500 male broilers were assigned to one of four treatment groups including control (CON), vaccine-only gel application (VNC), probiotic-only gel application (NPC), and vaccine-plus-probiotic gel application (VPC). Birds were placed in floor pens (6 replicate pens/treatment, 16–17 birds/pen). NPC and VPC birds received the probiotics in the water on days 2–4, 8, 14–20, 22, 29, and 34–36. On day 15, birds were mildly challenged with 0.5 mL of a mixed oral inoculum of Eimeria sp. prepared with the coccidiosis vaccine at 10× the vaccination dose. Performance measurements were recorded on first day and weekly afterwards, and lesion scores were evaluated 6 days post-challenge. Overall, the probiotics and coccidiosis vaccine resulted in an enhanced protective effect against the challenge, with VPC birds exhibiting lower lesion scores in the duodenum than VNC or NPC birds. Birds in the VPC treatment also demonstrated higher weight gains during days 1–15, days 7–15, and days 21–28 when compared to the VNC birds. These results suggest that the combination of probiotics and coccidiosis vaccines could enhance performance and provide an additional protective effect against a mixed Eimeria challenge.

Effects of Dietary Direct Fed Microbial Supplementation on Performance, Intestinal Morphology and Immune Response of Broiler Chickens Challenged With Coccidiosis

“…Broiler performance and intestinal lesion scores are important parameters used to evaluate the severity of enteric diseases such as coccidiosis (34) and necrotic enteritis (35). Eimeria spp.…”

In ovo and Dietary Supplementation of Probiotics Affects Post-Hatch Expression of Immune-Related Genes in Broiler Chicks

“…Different letters within a column indicate significant difference among treatment groups. 1 Neg=negative control; 2 Dry=dry punch; 3 P1=1 × 10 6 probiotic bacteria; 4 P2=1 × 10 7 probiotic bacteria 5 Not supp=not supplemented; 6 Supp=supplemented.…”

“…Probiotics also influenced humoral and cell-mediated immune responses by increasing antibody production and upregulating T lymphocyte numbers and associated responses [15][16][17]. Probiotics have proven their ability to enhance the immune response by promoting the clearance of several economically important pathogens such as Eimeria spp., Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens, further asserting their potential use as an antibiotic alternative [6,[18][19][20].…”

“…Probiotics have received increasing attention as an alternative with their potential to stimulate the immune system and reduce the rate and severity of enteric infections in poultry [2][3][4]. There are several microbial species commonly utilized as probiotics including those of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Enterococcus, Bacillus, and Pediococcus [5,6]. Probiotic products may contain one or several different bacterial species.…”

Coadministration of the Campylobacter jejuni N-Glycan-Based Vaccine with Probiotics Improves Vaccine Performance in Broiler Chickens

“…Several studies, with various results, also described the use of food additives, including oligofructose or organic acids (31,32), in addition to single or mixed cultures of bacteria such as Lactobacillus, Enterococcus, and Bifidobacterium species to reduce C. jejuni levels in chickens (9). Probiotics were also shown to improve vaccine efficacy in chickens immunized against coccidiosis (33) or Newcastle and infectious bursal disease viruses (34) and during passive immunization against various Salmonella enterica serotypes (35).…”