Abstract
This study was designed to evaluate the protection mechanism of oral administration of Clostridium butyricum against Salmonella enteritidis (SE) colonization in broilers. In the current study, 180 one-day-old healthy Arbor Acres (AA) broilers were meanly grouped into three, with three replicates of 20 birds each. An negative control group was fed basal diet without SE challenge and a positive control (PC) group was fed the basal diet and challenged with SE [106 colony forming unit (CFU)/0.2 mL]. An experimental (EXP) group was fed the basal diet, orally administered with C. butyricum (106 CFU/mL) and challenged with SE (106 CFU/0.2 mL). The results showed that compared to the PC group, the SE loads in livers, spleens, and cecal contents of chickens in EXP group were significantly reduced (P < 0.05) except in spleens at the 2-day post-infection; the production of interferon-γ, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-α in the livers, spleens, and cecal tissues of chickens in EXP group were decreased to different extents. The results of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction further revealed that the inflammation of chickens in EXP group was alleviated by C. butyricum via down-regulating TLR4, MyD88, and NF-κB-dependent pathways. Collectively, these findings indicated that oral administration of C. butyricum could be a suitable alternative for preventing SE infection in broilers.
Highlights
Salmonella, as an important foodborne pathogen, can lead to serious infections in animals and humans worldwide (Mead et al, 1999; Scallan et al, 2011)
At 2-day post-infection, gene expression for pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α was significantly elevated in positive control (PC) group compared to negative control (NC) and EXP groups (P < 0.05), but no significant difference was found between NC and EXP groups (P > 0.05); with regard to IFN-γ, IL-1β, and IL-8 production, no significant difference was observed among EXP, PC, and NC groups (P > 0.05)
At 6-day post-infection in the PC group, the gene expressions of IFN-γ, IL-1β, and TNF-α were elevated significantly (P < 0.05) compared to NC and EXP groups, but no difference was found between NC and EXP groups (P > 0.05); in terms of IL-8, no significant differences were found among EXP, NC, and PC groups (P > 0.05) (Table 4)
Summary
Salmonella, as an important foodborne pathogen, can lead to serious infections in animals and humans worldwide (Mead et al, 1999; Scallan et al, 2011). Poultry have been recognized as an important reservoir for Salmonella (Chen and Jiang, 2014). Toll-like receptors (TLRs) can play a key role in the protection animals and humans against Salmonella infection, and they combat the pathogen through recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (Akira and Takeda, 2004). TLR4, as one important member of the TLRs family, can recognize lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Gram-negative bacteria and can activate nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB ) through myeloid differentiation primary response protein 88 (MyD88), and leading to cytokine secretion and inflammatory response (Kawai and Akira, 2007)
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