Effect of an Alliaceae Encapsulated Extract on Growth Performance, Gut Health, and Intestinal Microbiota in Broiler Chickens Challenged with Eimeria spp.

Abstract

This study analyzed the effects of an Alliaceae encapsulated extract (AE-e) on daily gain (ADG), feed intake (ADFI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), oocysts per gram of feces (OPG), intestinal lesion (LS), and microbiota composition in broilers challenged with Eimeria spp. A total of 4800 one day Cobb-500 were allotted into 10 treatment groups with 12 replicates of 40 birds in a 2 × 4 + 2 factorial arrangement. The first factor was non-challenged (NC) or challenged (C), the second was four levels of AE-e added in the basal diet, 0 (AE0), 250 (AE250), 500 (AE500), and 750 mg·kg−1 (AE750), plus two ionophore controls, non-challenged (NC-Ion) and challenged (C-Ion). No interactions were observed between factors (NC0, NC250, NC500, NC750, C0, C250, C500, and C750), while C-Ion improved FCR at 21 d. The challenge affected negatively ADG and FCR and promoted enteropathogens in cecum. AE750 improved FCR in the finisher and cumulative phases, while C-Ion had fewer total OPG than C0 and C250. Likewise, at 21d, C250, C500, and C-Ion had fewer LS than C0, while at 28 d, C750 showed lower than C-Ion. In the cecum microbiota, C500 had more Ruminococcus, Firmicutes b, and Intestinimonas than C-Ion. In summary, AE-e showed beneficial results in broilers infected with Eimeria spp.

Effects of Eimeria acervulina infection on the luminal and mucosal microbiota of the cecum and ileum in broiler chickens

“…Although E. acervulina does not target the cecum and ileum directly, a study has shown an E. acervulina infection can affect cecal microbiota diversity 12 , and it has been suggested that E. acervulina infection could affect cecal microbiota by increasing endogenous loss of proteins and undigested dietary proteins in the GIT 13,14 . While there are various studies investigating mixed Eimeria species infections on the cecum and/or ileum 13,[15][16][17] , less is known on the individual effects of E. acervulina. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of E. acervulina on the luminal and mucosal microbiota of both the cecum and ileum at multiple time points during infection.…”