Effects of Dangguibuxue Tang, a Chinese herbal medicine, on growth performance and immune responses in broiler chicks

Liang Cao,Jin Liang Li,Bin Wang,Min Zhang,Xu Ting Li,Wei Huang,Si Cong Li,Rui Yang

doi:10.4067/s0716-97602013000200010

Abstract

The effects of Dangguibuxue Tang (DBT) on growth performance and immunity response in immunosuppressed broiler chicks were investigated in this study. 240 one-d-old broiler chicks (DaHeng S01) were randomly divided into 4 groups, 2.0% DBT-treatment (A), 0.5% DBT-treatment (B), cyclophosphamide-control (C), and control group (D). From 4 d to 7 d of age, chicks in group A, B and C were given cyclophosphamide (CY) at a dosage of 100mg/kg body weight (BW) daily by intraperitoneal injection to induce immunosuppression. Chicks in group D were given an equal volume of physiological saline daily by intraperitoneal injection and considered normal chicks. Groups A and B were supplemented with 2.0% or 0.5% of DBT in the drinking water from 8 d to 42 d of age. Groups C and D did not receive any additional medication. The results revealed that chicks from group B had lower feed:gain rate (FGR), lower total mortality, higher immunity organ indexes, higher levels of Newcastle disease (ND) antibody and infectious bursal disease (IBD) antibody, higher interleukin-2 and interleukin-6 levels, and greater lymphocyte proliferative responses to concanavalin A (ConA) during the experiment than those from group C. However, no significant difference in the immunity status in the two levels of DBT-treatment was observed. These results indicate that supplementation of 0.5% of DBT can improve both cellular immunity and humoral immunity in immunosuppressed broiler chicks.

Highlights

In the poultry industry, broiler chicks can be exposed to stressors and infectious diseases that impair innate and acquired immunity
It has been previously reported that cyclophosphamide treatment in the newly hatched period leads in chicks to a severe and permanent deficiency both in humoral immunity and cellular immunity (Toivanen et al, 1971; Muroga et al, 2005)
BWgainofchicksin 3 immunosuppressed groups significantly decreased compared with that of the normal group. This result was consistent with previous studies, which reported that chicks treated with cyclophosphamide are inferior in growth performance to normal chicks (Toivanen et al, 1971; Muroga et al, 2005)

Summary

Introduction

Broiler chicks can be exposed to stressors and infectious diseases that impair innate and acquired immunity. Some noninfectious factors such as heat stress and aflatoxin impair immunity functions (Yarru et al, 2009; Han et al, 2010; Hoerr, 2010). Vaccines and antibiotics are used for controlling these diseases. The extensive use of antibiotics for controlling secondary infections in animal production leads to a variety of problems such as development of drug-resistant animals and drug residues in the products (Diarrassouba et al, 2007). The use of immunomodulators to improve the immune function in broiler chicks has been considered to be an efficient means of improving performance in the poultry industry (Hernández et al, 2004; Willis et al, 2007)

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Conclusion