Effect of dietary zinc oxide nanoparticles on growth performance and Clostridium perfringens infection in broiler chickens

Abstract

The aim of this work was to study how different concentrations of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZONPs) affected broiler chicken resistance and susceptibility to C. perfringens challenge, as well as growth performance and intestinal morphology. A total of 84 Ross-308 broilers, 7 days of age were randomly divided into 7 treatment groups: first group (negative control), second group - basal diet only (positive control), third group (positive control treated with amoxicillin), fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh groups - basal diet supplemented with 10, 20, 30, and 40 mg ZONPs per kg ration, respectively. All treatments were replicated 4 times, with three birds in each pen. All groups were inoculated orally with 5×104 sporulated coccidial oocyst, and after 5 days, the same groups were challenged orally with 2 mL broth culture with 1.8×108 CFU/bird of C. perfringens type A, for 3 successive days. Our findings showed that ZONPs used as a feed additive, inhibited C. perfringens proliferation in the intestine. ZONPs supplemented groups had significant (P<0.05) improvement in overall body weight gain and feed consumption than the other groups. However, there was no significant difference in feed conversion ratio between all groups. Chicks supplemented with different ZONPs concentrations showed a significant increase (P<0.05) in villus height and villus/crypt ratio in small intestine, however, there was no significant difference in crypt depth between all groups (P>0.05). Chicks supplemented with ZONPs showed superior disease resistance and superior growth efficiency. Furthermore, 20 and 40 mg/kg ZONPs improved growth performance and intestinal parameters compared to other concentrations. As a result, ZONPs may be used in poultry feed as an alternative to antibiotics.