Dietary inclusion of arabinoxylo-oligosaccharides in response to broilers challenged with subclinical necrotic enteritis

Abstract

1. This study investigated the prebiotic properties of arabinoxylo-oligosaccharides (AXOS) produced both in situ and in vitro for their activity against the onset of necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens. 2. A 2 × 3 factorial arrangement was applied, including necrotic enteritis challenge (challenged/unchallenged) and three dietary treatments from d 10 to 21. A wheat-soy commercial-type basal-grower diet was fed with 2% of the wheat proportion replaced by the same amount of either arabinoxylan (AX), AXOS produced from hydrolysing AX with 16 000 BXU (birch xylanase unit) xylanase in vitro or AX fed with 16 000 BXU xylanase (AX + E). Necrotic enteritis (NE) challenge was induced by orally infecting birds with a vaccine strain of Eimeria oocysts at d 9 of age followed by oral gavage of a freshly prepared Clostridium perfringens broth at d 14. 3. The challenge depressed growth performance, induced gross lesions and reduced ileal viscosity at d 10-21. Birds fed on the AXOS diet had numerically less severe gross lesions, improved feed conversion at d 0-16 and lower ileal viscosity at d 16 compared to birds fed on AX. Weight gain of the unchallenged birds ranked as follows in terms of the diets: AXOS > AX + E > AX. AX + E produced a lower ileal viscosity compared to the AX treatment but only led to marginal improvements in performance and intestinal lesion scores. 4. Caecal short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentration was higher in birds fed on AXOS and AX + E compared to those fed on AX and was higher in the challenged birds compared to the unchallenged birds. Gizzard pH was lower in birds fed on AX + E compared to those fed on AXOS at d 16. Challenged birds had lower ileum pH compared to the unchallenged birds at d 16 and 21. 5. Results of this study suggest that AXOS appeared to be efficacious prebiotics, as highlighted by improvements in feed conversion ratio and increased SCFA production. Future studies are warranted to elucidate the types of AXOS that are most active against NE and the mechanisms by which different levels of AXOS enhance bird performance.

Dietary Non-Drug Feed Additive as an Alternative for Antibiotic Growth Promoters for Broilers During a Necrotic Enteritis Challenge

“…On the other hand, no significant mortality was observed among the treatment groups during days 15–28 and days 15–42. Dietary supplementations of certain feed additives, such as probiotics [19,20], prebiotics [21], essential oils [22], or mixed combination products [23], can be effective at reducing the negative effects of necrotic enteritis by modulating the beneficial intestinal microbiota and improving intestinal integrity and immune status of broiler chickens [18]. However, young chickens are more susceptible to intestinal infections since the protective microbial colonization patterns are unstable in early life stages [24].…”

Arabinoxylan-oligosaccharides kick-start arabinoxylan digestion in the aging broiler

“…Dietary components are the predisposing factors regulating the microbial, digestive, and health status of the broiler and hence broiler performance outcomes. Thus, the nutritional quality of the dietary ingredients is of critical importance in formulating broiler feeds ( Keerqin et al., 2017 , Kheravii et al., 2018 ). In European countries, wheat is a major source of energy in poultry diets.…”

Cannabis-derived cannabidiol and nanoselenium improve gut barrier function and affect bacterial enzyme activity in chickens subjected to C. perfringens challenge

“…Thus, there is an urgent need in the poultry sector to develop an effective strategy based on dietary intervention that can limit or prevent the occurrence of NE. Numerous strategies have been investigated to prevent or reduce the negative impact of C. perfringens in birds, but the obtained data are inconclusive, mainly because the pathogenic mechanisms of this pathogen are poorly understood [ 3 – 6 ]. Two main factors are responsible for the inconsistent outcomes among studies: (i) the effects of NE-predisposing factors, including coccidia coinfection, nutrition, and bird age [ 7 ], and (ii) the basing of conclusions on results obtained/extrapolated from clinical cases with differences in NE disease severity (i.e., subclinical vs. severe).…”