Spirulina platensis Inclusion Reverses Circulating Pro-inflammatory (Chemo)cytokine Profiles in Broilers Fed Low-Protein Diets

Abstract

Proteins are considered the most expensive nutrients in commercial modern broiler production, and their dietary inclusion at low levels is pivotal to minimize feed costs and reduce nitrogen waste. The quest for an environmentally friendly source of proteins that favor the formulation of low protein diets without compromising broiler health, welfare, and growth performance has become a hotspot in nutrition research. Due to its high protein content, the naturally growing Spirulina microalgae is considered a promising nutrient source. The purpose of the present study was, therefore, to determine the effects of Spirulina supplementation on liver bacterial translocation, hematological profile, and circulating inflammatory and redox markers in broilers fed a low-protein diet. One-day-old Ross 708 male broilers (n = 180) were randomly assigned into one of three experimental treatments: standard diet as a control, low protein diet, and low protein diet supplemented with 100 g/kg of Spirulina. Target molecular markers were measured in the peripheral blood circulation using real-time quantitative PCR. Reducing dietary proteins increased bacterial translocation and systemic inflammation as indicated by proportions of basophils among blood leukocytes. The expression levels of circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines [interleukin (IL)-3, IL-6, IL-4, IL-18, and tumor necrosis factor-α], chemokines (CCL-20), and NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 inflammasome were significantly upregulated in birds fed the low protein diet compared with the control. The inclusion of Spirulina reversed these effects, which indicates that Spirulina reduces systemic inflammation- and bacterial translocation-induced by a low protein diet and could be a promising alternative protein source in poultry diets.

Combined use of Spirulina platensis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Implication on growth, blood profile and intestinal morphology and bacteria of the Indonesian crossbred chickens

“…Spirulina platensis also contains a variety of functional components such as vitamins, essential fatty acids, minerals, antioxidants and pigments, which are beneficial for the health conditions of chickens (Liestianty et al 2019;Islam et al 2021). Indeed, the use of S. platensis has been found to modulate the immune responses (Mullenix et al 2021b), balance the antioxidant (redox) status (Moustafa et al 2021) and improve physiological conditions (Islam et al 2021) of broiler chickens. Moreover, S. platensis contains oligosaccharide that are essential for the growth of lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus paracasei and Bifidobacterium animalis) as reported by Cai et al (2022).…”

Effects of heat stress on cyto(chemo)kine and inflammasome gene expression and mechanical properties in isolated red and white blood cells from 4 commercial broiler lines and their ancestor jungle fowl

“…The cells isolated from JF under TN conditions were used as the control group for all analyses. Oligonucleotide primer sequences specific for chicken have be previously reported ( Nguyen, Greene, Kong, Bottje, Anthony and Dridi, 2017 ; Mullenix et al, 2021 ).…”

Local and Systemic Cytokine, Chemokine, and FGF Profile in Bacterial Chondronecrosis with Osteomyelitis (BCO)-Affected Broilers

“…Amplification was achieved using Power SYBRGreen Master Mix (Life Technologies, Carlsbad, CA, USA) and real-time quantitative PCR (7500 Real Time System; Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA). The sequences for oligonucleotide primers for r18s, TNFα, IL-1β, IL-18, IL-3, IL-4, IL-10, IL-6, CRP, CCLL-4, CXCL-14, CCL-4, CCL-20, NLRP3, NLRC5, NLRX1, and NLRC3 were previously published [10,19,20]. Additional primers used were IL-17 (forward, 5 -CCTTGCTCCTGCTTGCTTTC-3 ; and reverse, 5 -AACCAATCGCTCCCCATTTT-3 ), IL-12B (forward 5 -TGCCCAGTGCCAGAAGGA-3 ; and reverse, 5 -TCAGTCGGCTGGTGCT CTT-3 ), and chemokines IL-8L1 (forward 5 -CAGAACCAAACCCAGGTGACA-3 ; and reverse, 5 -ACAGCCTTGCCCATCATCTT-3 ), IL-8L2 (forward 5 -TCCTGGTTTCAGCTGCT CTGT-3 ; and reverse, 5 -CGCAGCTCATTCCCCATCT-3 ), CCL-5 (forward 5 -TTTCTACAC CAGCAGCAAATGC-3 ; and reverse, 5 -GCCCCTTCCTGGTGATGAA-3 ).…”