Abstract
This study was conducted to examine the effects of a plant extract mixture, a microencapsulated product composed of eugenol and garlic tincture (PE), on intestinal health in broilers under necrotic enteritis (NE) challenge. A total of 960 d-old mixed-sex Cobb 500 chicks were randomly distributed to 48-floor pens housing 20 birds per pen. Six treatments were applied: UC, unchallenged control; CC, challenged control; PE, challenged group plus PE; AM, challenged group plus antimicrobial (AM); FAP, challenged group plus a full dose of AM with PE; HAP, challenged group plus a half dose of AM with PE in starter, grower and finisher phases. Birds in the challenged groups were inoculated with Eimeria spp. on d 9 and Clostridium perfringens on d 14. On d 16, the CC group had increased serum fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran (FITC-d), reduced villus surface area, goblet cell number, upregulated CLDN1, JAM2 genes and reduced microbial diversity compared to the UC group (p < 0.05). Birds fed PE had reduced FITC-d, increased goblet cell number and Bifidobacterium compared to the CC group (p < 0.05). Birds fed PE had reduced CLDN5 expression in male birds, and Bacteroides spp. in female birds than CC group (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that PE supplementation mitigates the effect of NE by improving the intestinal health of birds.
Highlights
Necrotic enteritis (NE) is a devastating enteric bacterial disease in the highly productive poultry industry with an estimated profitability loss of over US$6 billion per annum [1].It is primarily caused by Clostridium perfringens, a Gram-positive, ubiquitous, anaerobic, spore-forming bacterium that is present in the normal intestinal flora of healthy chickens [2].The bacterium C. perfringens in the intestinal tract under the favourable conditions together with one or more predisposing factors can become pathogenic due to the overgrowth ofNetB toxin-producing strains leading to the occurrence of necrotic enteritis (NE)
It was hypothesised that the supplementation of plant extract, a microencapsulated product composed of eugenol and garlic tincture (PE), may help mitigate the negative effects of clinical NE on intestinal health
The NE challenge model was applied in the present study following previously reported challenge protocols [4,35] where field strains of Eimeria spp. oocysts were employed as a predisposing factor and C. perfringens as the causative agent to introduce NE
Summary
Kheravii 1 , Catherine Ionescu 2 , Alexandra Blanchard 2 , Reza Barekatain 3 , Yadav S. Integrity and Increases Goblet Cells in Broilers.
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