Effect of β-1,3/1,6-D-glucan in diet on productivity and humoral and cellular defense mechanisms in sheep

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of β-1,3/1,6-D-glucan, isolated from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, on indicators of milk and meat performance in sheep as well as on selected non-specific indicators of humoral and cellular defense. The experiment was carried on 26 suckling ewes divided into 2 equal groups, and their offspring (21 in each group). The ewes were administered concentrate with the addition of β-1,3/1,6-D-glucan at a dose of 3 g/kg. Indicators of milk performance and markers of humoral and cellular immunity were analyzed on days 28 and 70 of lactation; and the indicators of meat performance of lambs on day 28 and 70 of their life. The addition of β-1,3/1,6-D-glucan was observed to cause an increase in milk performance by 13.5-14%. Simultaneously, milk was characterized by a lower somatic cell count. Diet supplementation had a positive effect on the chemical composition of milk, which was manifested by increased percentage contents of fat (by 15-30%) and protein (by 11%). Lambs were characterized by a higher growth rate and better muscle tissue development. The supplementation caused an increase of gamma-globulin concentration (by 6.33-9.5 g/l), lysozyme activity (by 0.1 mg/l), respiratory burst activity (by 0.11-0.14), potential killing activity (by 0.10-0.12), proliferative response of T-cells stimulated by mitogen concanavalineA (by 0.07-0.09 RI) and proliferative response of B-cells stimulated by mitogen lipopolysaccharide (by 0.13-0.16 RI) in sheep's blood. The activity of β-1,3/1,6-D-glucan as a natural immunostimulator has been studied in many animal species, however, this is the first study conducted on sheep. Milk yield and composition, musculus longissiumus dorsi, ultrasound scanning, anti-infective immunity

The effect of dietary supplementation with β-1,3/1,6-D-glucan on stress parameters and meat quality in lambs

“…In other studies, lambs (Milewski, 2009;Ząbek et al, 2013) and calves (Dobicki et al, 2005) fed diets supplemented with β-glucan were also characterized by significantly higher body weights at weaning. The cited authors attributed the noted improvements in performance parameters to the prebiotic properties and immunostimulating effects of dried yeast extract which could have improved the health status of the animals.…”

“…Milewski (2009) also noted a significant increase (P ≤ 0.01) in the percentage of lymphocytes and a tendency towards a lower percentage of neutrophils in the blood of lambs fed diet with dried yeast addition. More recent studies revealed that both dried brewer's yeast and β-1,3/1,6-D-glucan (Ząbek et al, 2013) stimulated immune responses in lambs. These authors concluded that dietary supplementation with yeast extracts improves the immune status of animals.…”

“…Several authors demonstrated that probiotics containing Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast improved performance and increased humoral and cellular immunity in lambs (Milewski, 2009;Ząbek et al, 2013). Yeast supplements were also found to exert a positive influence on cattle (Dobicki et al, 2005), pigs (Li et al, 2005) and poultry (Zhang et al, 2005).…”

Impact of <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> supplementation on reproductive performance, milk yield in ewes and offspring growth

“…Allbrahim et al (2010) observed a higher pre-ovulatory surge of estradiol in cows administered live yeast, although this supplement did not impact the size of the ovulatory ovarian folli- (Dobicki et al, 2006(Dobicki et al, , 2007. Ząbek et al (2013) demonstrated the beneficial impact of β-1,3/1,6-D-glucan on milk yield in sheep. Biolex Beta-S yeast supplement generated an increase in milk yield of 13.54 % on day 28 and 14.04 % on day 70 of lactation.…”

“…Milewski et al, 2007, andWójcik et al, 2007). These effects were combined with a beneficial impact on meat (Milewski, 2009;Milewski et al, 2007) and milk (Ząbek et al, 2013) performance.…”