Abstract
BackgroundThe poultry industry is in need of effective antibiotic alternatives to control outbreaks of necrotic enteritis (NE) due to Clostridium perfringens.MethodsThis study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding Bacillus coagulans on the growth performance and gut health of broiler chickens with C. perfringens-induced NE. Two hundred and forty 1-day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement with two dietary B. coagulans levels (0 or 4 × 109 CFU/kg of diet) and two disease challenge statuses (control or NE challenged).ResultsNE-induced reduction in body weight gain was relieved by the addition of B. coagulans into broiler diets compared with the NE-infected birds. NE infection damaged intestinal morphological structure, promoted intestinal C. perfringens growth and liver invasion, and enhanced anti-C. perfringens specific sIgA concentrations in the gut and specific IgG levels in serum compared with the uninfected birds. NE infection significantly (P < 0.05) decreased mucin-2 (at 14 d post-infection (DPI), toll -like receptor 2 (TLR2, at 7 and 14 DPI), TLR4 (at 7 and 14 DPI), tumor necrosis factor super family 15 (TNFSF15, at 7 and 14 DPI), lysozyme (LYZ, at 14 DPI) and fowlicidin-2 (at 7 and 14 DPI) mRNA levels, whereas it dramatically (P = 0.001) increased IFN-γ mRNA levels at 7 DPI. However, challenged birds fed diets supplemented with B. coagulans showed a significant (P < 0.01) decrease in gut lesion scores, decreased C. perfringens numbers in the cecum and liver, and an increase in fowlicidin-2 mRNA levels in compared with the uninfected birds. In addition, compared with the non-supplemented group, dietary inclusion of B. coagulans improved intestinal barrier structure, further increased specific sIgA levels and alkaline phosphatase (IAP) activity in the jejunum, enhanced the expression of jejunum lysozyme mRNA, and inhibited the growth, colonization, and invasion of C. perfringens; in contrast, it reduced serum-specific IgG concentrations and jejunum IFN-γ mRNA levels.ConclusionThese results indicated that dietary B. coagulans supplementation appeared to be effective in preventing the occurrence and reducing the severity of C. perfringens-induced NE in broiler chickens.
Highlights
The poultry industry is in need of effective antibiotic alternatives to control outbreaks of necrotic enteritis (NE) due to Clostridium perfringens
NEinduced reduction in body weight gain (BWG) was significantly inhibited by the addition of B. coagulans into broiler diets compared to that in NE-infected control birds
The results obtained imply that B. coagulans has the ability to maintain a mature and functionally active epithelium regardless of the NE challenge. These results indicate that B. coagulans supplementation is effective in mitigating performance decline and gut lesions associated with NE, possibly by improving gut integrity and intestinal morphology as well as intestinal microflora balance in broiler chickens
Summary
The poultry industry is in need of effective antibiotic alternatives to control outbreaks of necrotic enteritis (NE) due to Clostridium perfringens. The limitation in the use of antibiotics growth promotors (AGP) in the poultry industry has resulted in an increase in specific diseases, such as avian necrotic enteritis (NE) [1]. The development of effective AGP alternatives to control future NE outbreaks due to Clostridium perfringens in the poultry industry is imperative. Several studies have shown that probiotics possess various biological functions, including improving nutrient digestibility and intestinal morphological structure and epithelial barrier integrity, maintaining intestinal microbiota balance, defending against enteropathogen adhesion and invasion, and modulating host cellular and humoral immunity [6,7,8]
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