Abstract
Three hundred and sixty 1-day-old male broiler chicks were randomly allocated to 4 treatments of 6 replicates to evaluate the effects of cLFchimera, a recombinant antimicrobial peptide (AMP), on gut health attributes of broiler chickens under necrotic enteritis (NE) challenge. Treatments were as follows: (T1) unchallenged group fed with corn-soybean meal (CSM) without NE challenge and additives (NC); (T2) group fed with CSM and challenged with NE without any additives (PC); (T3) PC group supplemented with 20 mg cLFchimera/kg diet (AMP); (T4) PC group supplemented with 45 mg antibiotic (bacitracin methylene disalicylate)/kg diet (antibiotic). Birds were sampled for villi morphology, ileal microbiota, and jejunal gene expression of cytokines, tight junctions proteins, and mucin. Results showed that AMP ameliorated NE-related intestinal lesions, reduced mortality, and rehabilitated jejunal villi morphology in NE challenged birds. While the antibiotic non-selectively reduced the count of bacteria, AMP restored microflora balance in the ileum of challenged birds. cLFchimera regulated the expression of cytokines, junctional proteins, and mucin transcripts in the jejunum of NE challenged birds. In conclusion, cLFchimera can be a reliable candidate to substitute growth promoter antibiotics, while more research is required to unveil the exact mode of action of this synthetic peptide.
Highlights
Three hundred and sixty 1-day-old male broiler chicks were randomly allocated to 4 treatments of 6 replicates to evaluate the effects of cLFchimera, a recombinant antimicrobial peptide (AMP), on gut health attributes of broiler chickens under necrotic enteritis (NE) challenge
The results showed that none of the additives could rehabilitate the NE-inducing lesions in the intestine compared to NE challenge and additives (NC)
While the highest lesion scores in the intestine of PC group showed that NE was efficiently induced in broilers, AMP decreased (P < 0.05) lesions in duodenum, jejunum, and ileum of broilers compared to the challenged group
Summary
Three hundred and sixty 1-day-old male broiler chicks were randomly allocated to 4 treatments of 6 replicates to evaluate the effects of cLFchimera, a recombinant antimicrobial peptide (AMP), on gut health attributes of broiler chickens under necrotic enteritis (NE) challenge. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are endo-exogenous polypeptides comprised of less than 50 amino acids, characterized by cationic amphipathic properties, and produced by host defense systems or synthetically supplied to the diet in order to protect a host from pathogenic microbes[5,6]. These peptides show broad-spectrum antimicrobial activities against various microorganisms, including Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, fungi, and v iruses[7]; they are well-known for their roles as competent alternatives for antibiotics in farm animal production[8,9,10,11].
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