The effect of wheat prebiotics on the gut bacterial population and iron status of iron deficient broiler chickens

Abstract

BackgroundCurrently, there is a lot of interest in improving gut health, and consequently increasing Fe absorption, by managing the colonic microbial population. This is traditionally done by the consumption of probiotics, live microbial food supplements. However, an alternative, and often very effective approach, is the consumption of food ingredients known as prebiotics. Fructans and arabinoxylans are naturally occurring non-digestible oligosaccharides in wheat that exhibit prebiotic properties and may enhance intestinal iron (Fe) absorption. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of prebiotics from wheat on Fe bioavailability in vitro (Caco-2 cells) and in vivo (broiler chickens, Gallus gallus).MethodsIn the current study, the effect of intra-amniotic administration of wheat samples extracts at 17 d of embryonic incubation on the Fe status and possible changes in the bacterial population in intestinal content of broiler hatchlings were investigated. A group of 144 eggs were injected with the specified solution (1 ml per egg) into the amniotic fluid. Immediately after hatch (21 d) and from each treatment group, 10 chicks were euthanized and their small intestine, liver and cecum were removed for relative mRNA abundance of intestinal Fe related transporters, relative liver ferritin amounts and bacterial analysis of cecal content, respectively.ResultsThe in vivo results are in agreement with the in vitro observations, showing no differences in the hatchling Fe status between the treatment groups, as Fe bioavailability was not increased in vitro and no significant differences were measured in the intestinal expression of DMT1, Ferroportin and DcytB in vivo. However, there was significant variation in relative amounts of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli in the intestinal content between the treatments groups, with generally more bifidobacteria being produced with increased prebiotic content.ConclusionsIn this study we showed that prebiotics naturally found in wheat grains/bread products significantly increased intestinal beneficial bacterial population in Fe deficient broiler chickens. With this short-term feeding trial we were not able to show differences in the Fe-status of broilers. Nevertheless, the increase in relative amounts of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli in the presence of wheat prebiotics is an important finding as these bacterial populations may affect Fe bioavailability in long-term studies.

Intra Amniotic Administration of Raffinose and Stachyose Affects the Intestinal Brush Border Functionality and Alters Gut Microflora Populations

“…Pure stachyose and raffinose in powder form were separately diluted in 18 MΩ H 2 O to determine the concentrations necessary to maintain an osmolarity value of less than 320 Osm to ensure that the chicken embryos would not be dehydrated upon injection of the solution. This intra-amniotic administration procedure followed that of Tako et al [12]. On day 17 of embryonic incubation, eggs containing viable embryos were weighed and divided into 6 groups ( n = 12) with an approximately equal weight distribution.…”

“…Thus, one prospective solution to the aforementioned dilemma is to increase the content of these promoter substances to counteract the negative effects of the inhibitory factors such as polyphenols [9]. One of the most notable of these promoter substances is the prebiotic [9,12]. …”

“…Raffinose and stachyose were chosen as the prebiotics for investigation in this study, since they are found in high concentrations in lentils and chickpeas [8], which are staple crops consumed by populations in which Fe deficiency is a health concern [5]. Previously, we demonstrated the effects of the wheat prebiotics arabinoxylans and fructans on intestinal probiotics [12] as a potential approach to improving Fe bioavailability in staple food crops and gut health.…”

“…The broiler chicken is a fast-growing animal with sensitivities to dietary deficiencies of trace minerals such as Fe [13], and is very receptive to dietary manipulations [9,12,13,14]. Additionally, there is >85% homology between gene sequences of human and chicken intestinal genes such as DMT1, DcytB, ZnT1, and Ferroportin [15].…”

Effects of Protease Addition and Replacement of Soybean Meal by Corn Gluten Meal on the Growth of Broilers and on the Environmental Performances of a Broiler Production System in Greece

“…The PCR products were analyzed on 2% agarose gel and quantified using GelQuant.NET software provided by BiochemLab Solutions (biochemlabsolutions.com). Finally the densities of the quantified bands were expressed in arbitrary units [30]. The density of each bank was directly associated to the population of each of the bacterial variables.…”