Effects of Feeding Different Postbiotics Produced by Lactobacillus plantarum on Growth Performance, Carcass Yield, Intestinal Morphology, Gut Microbiota Composition, Immune Status, and Growth Gene Expression in Broilers under Heat Stress

Abstract

Simple SummaryHeat stress is a serious issue in commercial broiler production in hot and humid countries, including Malaysia. Exposure of broilers to heat stress affects their health and productivity. In this context, antibiotics are widely used at sub-therapeutic levels as growth promoters to reduce stress and infectious diseases in order to sustain productivity in commercial broiler farms. However, the extensive use of antibiotics as growth promoters for a long time leads to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the possibility of antibiotic-resistant genes being transferred among organisms. Recently, postbiotics produced by Lactobacillus plantarum have been widely studied as a feed additive in order to replace in-feed antibiotics. However, to date, no studies have investigated the role of postbiotics in feed for broilers under heat stress.AbstractThe effects of feeding different postbiotics on growth performance, carcass yield, intestinal morphology, gut microbiota, immune status, and growth hormone receptor (GHR) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) gene expression in broilers under heat stress were assessed in this study. A total of 252 one-day-old male broiler chicks (Cobb 500) were randomly assigned in cages in identical environmentally controlled chambers. During the starter period from 1 to 21 days, all the birds were fed the same basal diet. On day 22, the birds were weighed and randomly divided into six treatment groups and exposed to cyclic high temperature at 36 ± 1 °C for 3 h per day from 11:00 to 14:00 until the end of the experiment. From day 22 to 42 (finisher period), an equal number of birds were subjected to one of the following diets: NC (negative control) basal diet; PC (positive control) basal diet + 0.02% oxytetracycline; or AA (ascorbic acid) basal diet + 0.02% ascorbic acid. The other three groups (RI11, RS5 and UL4) were basal diet + 0.3% different postbiotics (produced from different Lactobacillus plantarum strains, and defined as RI11, RS5 and UL4, respectively). The results demonstrated that birds fed RI11 diets had significantly higher final body weight, total weight gain and average daily gain than the birds that received the NC, PC and AA treatments. The feed conversion ratio was significantly higher in the RI11 group compared with the other groups. Carcass parameters were not affected by the postbiotic-supplemented diet. Postbiotic supplementation improved villi height significantly in the duodenum, jejunum and ileum compared to the NC, PC and AA treatments. The crypt depth of the duodenum and ileum was significantly higher in NC group compared to other treatment groups except RI11 in duodenum, and UL4 in ileum was not different with NC groups. The villus height to crypt depth ratio of duodenum and ileum was significantly higher for the postbiotic treatment groups and AA than the PC and NC treatment groups. The postbiotic RI11 group recorded significantly higher caecum total bacteria and Lactobacillus count and lower Salmonella count compared to the NC and PC tr...

Dietary Postbiotic Lactobacillus plantarum Improves Serum and Ruminal Antioxidant Activity and Upregulates Hepatic Antioxidant Enzymes and Ruminal Barrier Function in Post-Weaning Lambs

“…The dietary supplementation of postbiotics of monogastric like broilers [3][4][5], layer hens [6] and piglets [7,8] were shown to have better performance and were comparable or performed better in comparison to antibiotics. In broilers exposed to heat stress, postbiotics inclusion was shown to alleviate the heat stress effects by the greater growth performance, immune status and gut health [9]. Postbiotics use in ruminants was shown to improve the in vitro rumen fermentation and fiber degrading microbial population [10] and enhance growth performance, nutrient utilization, immune status and gut health in post-weaning lambs [11,12].…”

The effects of supplementation of yeast (<i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i>) and postbiotic from <i>Lactobacillus acidophilus</i> on the health and growth performance of young Jersey heifer calves

“…Similarly, the supplementation of postbiotic from Lactobacillus spp. has also been found to increase the concentration of IgG in broilers (Humam et al, 2019) but the potential mode of action is, to our knowledge, still unknown. However, no treatment effect was found at the second sampling.…”

Baicalin-Copper Complex Modulates Gut Microbiota, Inflammatory Responses, and Hormone Secretion in DON-Challenged Piglets

“…Some studies also reported that most of the Lactobacillus assayed induced inflammatory responses, which suggests that DON promoted the release of inflammatory factors by changing the abundance of Lactobacillus in the intestinal microbiota [44,45]. The expression of GHR and IGF1 in the liver of broilers fed with Lactobacillus plantarum strains RI11 increased significantly, and these findings indicate that DON and BCU may regulate growth by changing the abundance of Lactobacillus [46]. The relative abundance of Clostridium butyricum was significantly lower in the Con group than the BCU group.…”