Dietary supplementation of young broiler chickens with Capsicum and turmeric oleoresins increases resistance to necrotic enteritis

Abstract

The Clostridium-related poultry disease, necrotic enteritis (NE), causes substantial economic losses on a global scale. In the present study, a mixture of two plant-derived phytonutrients, Capsicum oleoresin and turmeric oleoresin (XT), was evaluated for its effects on local and systemic immune responses using a co-infection model of experimental NE in commercial broilers. Chickens were fed from hatch with a diet supplemented with XT, or with a non-supplemented control diet, and either uninfected or orally challenged with virulent Eimeria maxima oocysts at 14 d and Clostridium perfringens at 18 d of age. Parameters of protective immunity were as follows: (1) body weight; (2) gut lesions; (3) serum levels of C. perfringens a-toxin and NE B-like (NetB) toxin; (4) serum levels of antibodies to a-toxin and NetB toxin; (5) levels of gene transcripts encoding pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in the intestine and spleen. Infected chickens fed the XT-supplemented diet had increased body weight and reduced gut lesion scores compared with infected birds given the non-supplemented diet. The XT-fed group also displayed decreased serum a-toxin levels and reduced intestinal IL-8, lipopolysaccharide-induced TNF-a factor (LITAF), IL-17A and IL-17F mRNA levels, while cytokine/chemokine levels in splenocytes increased in the XT-fed group, compared with the animals fed the control diet. In conclusion, the present study documents the molecular and cellular immune changes following dietary supplementation with extracts of Capsicum and turmeric that may be relevant to protective immunity against avian NE.

Performance and Egg Quality of Laying Hens Fed Ration Containing Coriander Seeds (Coriandrum sativum Linn)

“…Herbs and spices are potential antimicrobial agents that can be used against various pathogens and as alternative natural antibacterial to replace antibiotic (Lee et al, 2013). According to Abou-Elkhair et al (2014) suplementation of black pepper and coriander seeds or their combinations in feed enhance the performance and health status of broiler chickens.…”

Immunity, Antioxidant Status, and Performance of Broiler Chickens Fed Turmeric (Curcuma Longa) Rhizome Powder

“…Emadi and Kermanshahi (2007) found that serum immunoglobulins of chickens were also affected by the inclusion of turmeric powder into the diets. The chickens fed turmeric-supplemented diet showed enhanced systemic humoral and cellular immunities (Kim et al, 2013;Lee et al, 2013). The balance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the cellular antioxidant defenses decides the amount of ROS in the cells (Burton and Jauniaux, 2011) leading to the formation of lipid peroxidation products such as MDA (Droge, 2002).…”

Effects of turmeric rhizome powder and curcumin in poultry production. A review

“…Capsicum oleoresin has been proposed to reduce the incidence of this disease, considering its well-known anti-inflammatory and antibiotic effects in human and veterinary medicine . Capsicum and TRP oleoresins jointly applied to broiler chickens infected with Clostridium perfringens, Eimeria maxima and oocysts has been probed successfully to reduce gut lesion scores, while such combination decreased serum α-toxin levels and several intestinal cytokines levels, among other beneficial effects (Lee et al, 2013).…”