Effect of dietary prebiotic supplementation on the performance, intestinal microflora, and immune response of broilers

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of dietary supplementation with the prebiotics fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS) and mannan-oligosaccharide (MOS) on the performance, small intestinal microflora, and immune response of broilers. Two hundred forty 1-d-old Ross broiler chickens were randomly assigned to 6 dietary treatment groups: control, avilamycin (6 mg/kg), 0.25% FOS, 0.5% FOS, 0.025% MOS, and 0.05% MOS. Each treatment was fed to 4 replicates of 10 birds per diet for 4 wk. Except for the 0.5% FOS group, the overall BW gains of birds treated with avilamycin and prebiotics were significantly(P < 0.05) higher than those of the control group. No significant differences were found between the control and supplemented groups in overall feed intake, feed conversion, and mortality. The 0.05% MOS group was significantly (P< 0.05) lower than the control and 0.5% FOS groups in heterophil:lymphocyte ratio and basophil level. Concentrations of plasma IgA and IgG were not significantly different among the treatment groups. Quantitative real-time PCR indicated that supplementation of the diet with avilamycin or prebiotics caused significant (P < 0.05) changes in the small intestinal microbial community, as determined in samples obtained at the ileocecal junction. The populations of Clostridium perfringens and Escherichia coli decreased with 0.25% FOS, 0.05% MOS, or avilamycin, and lactobacilli increased in the 0.25% FOS and 0.25% MOS treatment groups. Total bacteria increased in the 0.25% FOS and 0.05% MOS treatments and decreased in the avilamycin treatment. Feeding 0.25% FOS and 0.05% MOS resulted in an increase in lactobacillus community diversity in the ileum. Our results showed that 0.25% FOS and 0.05% MOS were comparable with avilamycin in improving productivity in broilers raised in wire floor cages up to 28 d of age. Plasma immunoglobulins were not affected by prebiotics, but the heterophil:lymphocyte ratio, basophil level, and microbial population in the ileum were significantly affected.

Dietary Fructans and Their Potential Beneficial Influence on Health and Performance Parametrs in Broiler Chickens

“…Some studies indicated a lack of a positive effect of inulin at inclusion from 4.0 to 20 g/kg Biggs et al, 2007;Rehman et al, 2007) or FOS at concentration from 3.75 to 20 g/kg in the basal diets (Biggs et al, 2007;Patterson et al, 1997;Waldroup et al, 1993) on broilers growth performance. In contrast, other authors have been reported the beneficial effect of inulin-type fructans on broilers growth performance (Ammerman et al, 1988(Ammerman et al, , 1989Kim et al, 2011;Li et al, 2008;Rebolé et al, 2010;Velasco et al, 2010;Xu et al, 2003;Yusrizal and Chen, 2003b) (Table 3). Ammerman et al (1988) showed that feeding FOS at 2.5 and 5.0 g/kg basal diet significantly improved feed efficiency and numerically reduced mortality rate of chickens over the entire feeding period of 46 days.…”

“…It was demonstrated that feeding broilers with diets supplemented with 1% of oligofructose, but not with 1% of inulin, increased the Lactobacilli count in the gizzard and small intestine digesta. Recent studies performed on broilers also proved that supplementation of the diet with 0.25% FOS resulted in a significant decrease of Clostridium perfringens and Escherichia coli population and an increase in the diversity of Lactobacillus community in the ileum (Kim et al, 2011). Salmonella contamination of chickens carcasses is very important from the health specialists' and consumers' perspective.…”

“…while decreasing the concentration of Clostridium spp. and Escherichia coli in the large intestine and caeca (Bailey et al, 1991;Biggs et al, 2007;Kim et al, 2011;Patterson et al, 1997;Rebolé et al, 2010;Xu et al, 2003;Yusrizal and Chen, 2003a) (Table 1). It is demonstrated that in chicks dietary inulin and fructooligosaccharides may be fermented, to some extent, in the small intestine.…”

Effects of inulin and di-d-fructose dianhydride-enriched caramels on intestinal microbiota composition and performance of broiler chickens

“…More specifically, an overgrowth of some microorganisms including enterobacteria in the intestine has been reported (Bourlinoux et al, 2003;Pelicano et al, 2005) to result in mucosal impairment, villus erosion and damage to the intestinal cells, thus reducing its nutrients' absorptive potential. Fonseca et al (2010) linked a decrease in the quantity of caecal enterobacteria to improved performance in broilers, and Kim et al (2011) proved that lower numbers of certain gut pathogens such as E. coli may improve broiler performance. Peinado et al (2012) recently showed that a garlic derivative lowered the intestinal numbers of enteropathogens and improved the ileal histological structure and productive parameters of broilers.…”

Performance of broilers experimentally inoculated with Salmonella Typhimurium and fed diets with addition of lactulosis

“…It is possible that the injuries caused to the epithelial cells by the pathogen were discrete or the cell recovery was really well-developed when measurements were carried out. According to Kim et al (2011), villous height and crypt depth are important indicators for digestive tract health because they are directly connected to the capacity of absorption of the mucosa.…”