The influence of diet on the mucin carbohydrates in the chick intestinal tract

Abstract

The presence of nutrients in the intestinal lumen is a major factor influencing bacterial colonization in poultry. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of poultry feed on viscosity of intestinal contents and on mucin carbohydrates by comparing jejunal supernatants and the histochemical composition of goblet cells in chicks reared to 5 weeks of age on either a conventional maize-based diet or a wheat-based diet or a wheat diet supplemented with 0.1% xylanase. Regional differences in the distribution of the neutral, carboxylated and sulphated mucins were demonstrated using conventional histochemical techniques, while a panel of lectins was used to study alterations in glycoconjugate synthesis of mucins in chicks fed different diets. 1) Feeding a diet supplemented with xylanase lowered the viscosity but increased the amount of neutral, carboxylated and sulphated mucins in the jejunum. 2) In chicks fed a maize-based diet, neutral mucins increased in the surface and upper crypt goblet cells of the small and large intestines but decreased in the caecum. 3) Feeding a diet supplemented with xylanase modified crypt-surface glycosylation of N-acetylglucosamine residues and resulted in loss of sialic acid residues in the small and large intestines. These results indicate that the constituents of poultry feed, in particular the consumption of a diet supplemented with xylanase, lead to changes in intestinal viscosity and mucin composition which are associated with alterations in the goblet cell glycoconjugates of the chick intestinal tract.

Influence of dietary organic acid blend supplementation and interaction with delayed feed access after hatch on broiler growth performance and intestinal health

“…Intestinal growth correlated with the number of cells in the crypts, the number of cells along the villus and the segment surface area . In previous reports, rats, pigs, mouse, and chickens (Langhout et al 1999;Sharma et al 1997) have shown alterations in the number of goblet cells due to changes in diets or because of malnutrition. Similar results were obtained by Dunsford et al (1991) who showed, in pigs, that early weaning altered the numbers of goblet cells as examined by AB and PAS staining.…”

Xylanase supplementation to a wheat-based diet alleviated the intestinal mucosal barrier impairment of broiler chickens challenged byClostridium perfringens

“…Moreover, the non-starch polysaccharide hydrolysis products may serve as prebiotics (Monsan & Paul, 1995;Bedford, 2000) and indirectly prohibit the growth of certain pathogenic species including C. perfringens (Gibson & Roberfroid, 1995;Engberg et al, 2004). In addition, xylanase supplementation in wheat-based diets was found to change the profile of mucin types in the small intestine of chicks (Sharma et al, 1997), which suggested that manipulating the mucin profile by enzyme addition in chicken diets may protect the intestinal mucosa from NE.…”

Modulation of intestinal mucin composition and mucosal morphology by dietary phytogenic inclusion level in broilers

“…Except intestinal microflora, diet has been reported to affect gut mucin composition in broilers (Sharma et al, 1997;Fernandez et al, 2000;Smirnov et al, 2005 andJamroz et al, 2006;Chee et al, 2010a and2010b). Goblet cell staining (Sharma et al, 1997;Fernandez et al, 2000;Jamroz et al, 2006;Chee et al, 2010a and2010b), mucus layer thickness (Smirnov et al, 2005) and mucin gene expression (Smirnov et al, 2006;Chee et al, 2010a) are listed among key parameters studied in an attempt to generate information of dietary effects on intestinal mucin composition.…”