The objective of this study was to identify the phosphorylation events associated with host immunity with the inclusion of chestnut tannins (ChT) in the diet. A total of 200 male day-of-hatch Cobb 500 chicks were randomly assigned to two treatment groups, totaling 50 chicks per pen per experiment (this study was repeated two times). The treatments were as follows: (1) control feed—normal starter feed (n = 50), and (2) 1% ChT inclusion feed (n = 50). The ceca were collected on each necropsy day for analysis via (1) a peptide array to provide tissue immunometabolism information from the host, and (2) quantitative PCR for mRNA expression. Of the top three immune pathways, the data identified the T-cell receptor signaling pathway, the chemokine signaling pathway, and the JAK-STAT signaling pathway. The results showed significantly altered phosphorylation of JAK and STAT peptides within the JAK-STAT pathway. These results support the mRNA expression data with the upregulated IL-6 response, due to the significant phosphorylation of IL6ST, JAK, and STAT peptides. In regard to immune modulation, ChT appear to influence host immunity via an IL-6 mediated response which could be beneficial in host defenses against pathogens at the early stages of broiler growth and development. Therefore, it is suggested that the role of the JAK-STAT pathway is altered by including ChT in the diet.
This study tested the effect of distillers dried grains with soluble (DDGS) inclusion in a broiler diet, with or without supplementation of exogenous enzymes, on the microbiota composition, intestinal health, diet digestibility and performance. A total of 288 one-day-old chickens was assigned to 6 treatments (8 replicate of 6 birds each) according to a completely randomized design with a 3 × 2 factorial scheme with 3 DDGS levels (0, 7 and 14%) and 2 inclusions of exogenous enzymes (with or without a multicarbohydrase complex + phytase [MCPC]). The results exhibited that DDGS inclusion up to 14% did not impair broilers performance up to 28 d, however, DDGS-fed animals exhibited significant improvement with the MCPC supplementation. No effects of the enzymes in the ileal digestibility were found at 21 d. DDGS inclusion in the diet affected dry matter and gross energy digestibility. Broilers fed diets with MCPC were found to have less intestinal histological alteration thus better gut health. No effect of DDGS, enzyme or interaction of those were observed for intestinal permeability and in the serum inflammatory biomarker (calprotectin) at 7 and 28 d. The increase of DDGS percentage in the diet reduced the diversity of the ileal microbiota but increased the cecal microbiota diversity. The inclusion of DDGS showed positive effects on microbiota composition due to a reduction of Proteobacteria phylum in the ileum at 28d and a reduction in the presence of Enterococcaceae family in the ileum at 14 and 28d. The inclusion of MCPC complex might promote beneficial changes in the ileal and cecal microbiota due reduce of Proteobacteria, Bacillaceae and Enterobacteriaceae. The supplementation of xylanase, β-glucanase, arabinofuranosidase and phytase to a DDGS diet improves performance and intestinal health allowing the use of these subproduct in the poultry nutrition.
In the past decade, the withdrawal of antibiotics used as growth promoters (AGP) has increased some poultry industry challenges, such as the rise of intestinal diseases. Experts advocate that AGPs improve performance due to the modulation of the intestinal microbiota, with resulting anti-inflammatory effects. However, the impact and interactions of AGPs with the host intestinal immune system are still unknown, which represents issues in developing effective alternatives for AGPs. Therefore, this study was aimed at better understanding the potential mechanism of action of bacitracin used as AGP and its impacts on the intestinal immune system. Ninety day-of-hatch chickens were randomly assigned to two treatments with three repetitions of fifteen birds, a control (CNT) group with a corn/soybean meal standard diet, and a control diet supplemented with 50 g/ton of feed of bacitracin (BMD). The cytokines’ and chemokines’ production (IFN-α, IFN-γ, IL-16, IL-10, IL-21, IL-6, M-CSF, MIP-3α, MIP-1β, VEGF and CCL-5) were assessed in the jejunum and ileum at 14, 21, 28 and 36 days of age by using a chicken-specific cytokine/chemokine peptide ELISA array. Broilers with BMD supplementation were found to have a lower production of IL-16, IFN-γ, M-CSF, IL-21, MIP-1β and VEGF in the jejunum at 14 d. However, from 21 through 36 days, the effect of BMD on cytokine production in the jejunum was negligible except for CCL-5, which was reduced at D36. In the ileum, BMD effects on the cytokine profile started at 28 d, when BMD-supplemented broilers showed a reduced IL-6 production level. At day 36, BMD reduced IL-16 and MIP-3α production but increased VEGF concentration in the ileum tissue. The present study demonstrated that the use of bacitracin as an AGP modulates the small intestine immune system, especially in the first phase of the broiler’s life (up to 14 days). Moreover, BMD anti-inflammatory effects include not only innate immunity but also seemed to influence the development of the adaptive immune response as seen by the decreased production of IL-21 and IL-16. These results demonstrate that a commonly used AGP in broiler feed had a local anti-inflammatory effect.
The complex interaction between the intestinal mucosa, the gut microbiota, and the diet balances the host physiological homeostasis and is fundamental for the maximal genetic potential of production animals. However, factors such as chemical and physical characteristics of the diet and/or environmental stressors can continuously affect this balance, potentially inducing a state of chronic low-grade inflammation in the gut, where inflammatory parameters are present and demanding energy, but not in enough intensity to provoke clinical manifestations. It’s vital to expand the understanding of inflammation dynamics and of how they compromise the function activity and microscopic morphology of the intestinal mucosa. These morphometric alterations are associated with the release of structural and functional cellular components into the feces and the blood stream creating measurable biomarkers to track this condition. Moreover, the identification of novel, immunometabolic biomarkers can provide dynamic and predictors of low-grade chronic inflammation, but also provide indicators of successful nutritional or feed additive intervention strategies. The objective of this paper is to review the mechanisms of low-grade inflammation, its effects on animal production and sustainability, and the biomarkers that could provide early diagnosis of this process and support studies of useful interventional strategies.
The objective of these studies was to evaluate the inclusion of a microbial muramidase (MUR) in the diets of broiler chickens on the growth performance, intestinal permeability (IP), total blood carotenoid content, apparent ileal digestibility (AID), and foot pad dermatitis (FPD). In Experiment 1, a total of 1,000 one-day-old chicks were placed in floor-pens with reused litter, and randomly distributed into 4 treatments with 10 replicates each. Treatments were a basal diet (control), or basal diet supplemented with 15,000; 25,000 or 35,000 LSU (F)/kg of MUR. Feed intake (FI), body weight gain (BWG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were evaluated at d 21 and 43. Intestinal permeability was evaluated on d 35 by FITC-d, and FPD and AID on d 43. In Experiment 2, a total of 800 one-day-old chicks were placed in floor-pens with fresh litter, and randomly distributed into 4 treatments with 8 replicates each. Treatments were a basal diet (control), or basal diet supplemented with 25,000 or 35,000 LSU (F)/kg of MUR, and a fourth group where the basal diet was supplemented with enramycin. The birds were induced to a mild intestinal challenge. Feed intake, BWG, and FCR were evaluated on d 21 and d 42, and total blood concentration of carotenoids was evaluated on d 28. In experiment 1, 35,000 LSU (F)/kg of MUR promoted the best FCR (P < 0.05). Muramidase supplementation linearly increased the AID of dry matter, ash, and fat (P < 0.01), and regardless of the dose, MUR decreased the IP (P < 0.05). In Experiment 2, the supplementation of 35,000 LSU (F)/kg of MUR improved BWG and FCR in the entire cycle (1-42 d) and increased the concentration of carotenoids in the blood on d 28 compared to the control group (P < 0.05). These studies show that MUR improves growth performance of broilers by improving intestinal permeability, digestibility of dry matter, ash and fat, absorption of carotenoids, and reducing FPD.
As the demand for alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) increases in food animal production, phytobiotic compounds gain popularity because of their ability to mimic the desirable bioactive properties of AGP. Chestnut tannins (ChT) are one of many phytobiotic compounds used as feed additives, particularly in South America, for broilers because of its favorable antimicrobial and growth promotion capabilities. Although studies have observed the microbiological and immunologic effects of ChT, there is a lack of studies evaluating the metabolic function of ChT. Therefore, the objective of this study was to characterize the cecal metabolic changes induced by ChT inclusion and how they relate to growth promotion. A total of 200 day-of-hatch broiler chicks were separated into 2 feed treatment groups: control and 1% ChT. The ceca from all the chicks in the treatment groups were collected on day 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 after hatch. The cytokine mRNA quantitative RT-PCR was determined using TaqMan gene expression assays for IL-1B, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and interferon gamma quantification. The cytokine expression showed highly significant increased expressions of IL-6 and IL-10 on day 2 and 6, whereas the other proinflammatory cytokines did not have significantly increased expression. The results from the kinome array demonstrated that the ceca from birds fed with 1% ChT had significant (P < 0.05) metabolic alterations based on the number of peptides when compared with the control group across all day tested. The increased expression of IL-6 appeared to be strongly indicative of altered metabolism, whereas the increased expression of IL-10 indicated the regulatory effect against other proinflammatory cytokines other than IL-6. The ChT initiate a metabolic mechanism during the first 10 d in the broiler. For the first time, we show that a phytobiotic product initially modulates metabolism while also potentially supporting growth and feed efficiency downstream. In conclusion, a metabolic phenotype alteration in the ceca of chickens fed ChT may indicate the importance of enhanced broiler gut health.
Abstract Glycerol is one of the substrates used for glycogen production by the chicken embryo, which is the predominant energy source during the last days of incubation and during hatching. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the in ovo feeding (IOF) of glycerol in the light and heavy broiler eggs derived from breeders of two different ages. Two experiments, with 672 eggs each, were carried out. The only difference between the experiments was breeder age: 32 weeks old in Exp. I and 60 weeks old in Exp. II. A completely randomized experimental design in a 3 × 2 factorial arrangement was applied. Treatments consisted of three glycerol IOF doses (0, 6, or 12 mg/ml) and two egg weights (light or heavy). Incubation parameters, glycogen reserves and live performance parameters (1–7 days of age) were evaluated. Hatch of fertile eggs, embryo mortality after IOF and the number of early‐hatching chicks were not affected by the treatments in both experiments. Hatchlings from heavy eggs (68.03 ± 0.64 g) laid by young breeders and receiving 6 mg glycerol/ml showed higher liver glycogen levels than those injected with 0 or 12 mg/ml. Glycerol IOF of embryos from young breeders increased feed intake and weight gain at 7 days of age, independently of egg weight. However, different glycerol dosages had no effect on the performance of the progeny of 60‐week‐old breeders. These results show that glycerol may be used as an IOF ingredient without affecting incubation parameters. The chickens from young breeders had greater glycogen deposition with inoculation of 6 mg/ml of glycerol and better performance with glycerol administration. However, glycerol IOF did not improve the performance of the progeny of 60‐week‐old breeders. Therefore, glycogen IOF may be recommended for eggs laid by young breeders.
Intestinal inflammation in poultry is a complex response that involves immune and intestinal cells which is still not fully understood. Thus, to better understand the mechanisms that drive the chronic intestinal inflammation in fowl we conducted an experiment applying a previously established nutritional model of low-grade chronic intestinal inflammation to evaluate cytokine and chemokine profiles in the chicken intestine. For this, we placed 90 one-day chickens into two treatments: (1) a control group (CNT) fed a corn-soybean diet, and (2) a group fed a diet high in non-starch polysaccharides (NSP). At days 14, 22, 28 and 36 of age, 6 birds from each treatment were euthanized, jejunal and ileal samples were collected for histological examination and cytokine measurements. The cytokines interferon-alpha (IFN-α), IFN-γ, interleukin-16 (IL-16), IL-10, IL-21, IL-6, macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF), chemokine C-C motif ligand 20 (CCL20), CCL4, CCL5 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were quantified in the intestinal tissue. Histologically, both jejunum and ileum of broilers fed NSP diet showed marked infiltration of mononuclear immune cells into the villi. Further, these birds exhibited a significant (P < 0.05) increase in CCL20 concentration in the jejunum at 14d, but a dramatic reduction of M-CSF at 14 and 21d. Later at 28d and 36d, birds fed the NSP diet exhibited increased IL-16 concentration in the jejunum. Since M-CSF is a monocyte stimulatory cytokine and CCL20 a chemokine of T-cells, the reduced M-CSF and increased production of CCL20 may indicate the involvement of the adaptive immune response, specifically driven by T-cells, occurring around the third week of age in the NSP model. Lastly, as a result of the mononuclear cell infiltration and activation of T-cells, IL-16, a pro-inflammatory T-cell cytokine, increased. Therefore, the current work indicates the importance of adaptive immune cells, especially T-cells, in the chronic intestinal inflammation in broiler chicken.
Abstract Background As the demand for alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) increases in food animal production, phytobiotic compounds gain in popularity due to their ability to mimic the desirable bioactive properties of AGPs. Chestnut tannins (ChT) are one of many phytobiotic compounds utilized as feed additives, particularly in South America, for broiler chickens due to its favorable antimicrobial and growth promotion capabilities. While studies have observed the microbiological and immunological effects of ChT, there is a lack of studies evaluating the metabolic function of ChT in the host. Therefore, the objective of this study was to characterize the cecal metabolic changes induced by ChT inclusion and how they relate to growth promotion. Results A total of 500 day-of-hatch Cobb 500 chicks were separated into five feed treatment groups: control, 1% ChT, 0.2% ChT, 0.08% ChT, and 0.03% ChT. The cecas from all the chicks in the treatment groups were collected on days 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 post-hatch. The cytokine mRNA qRT-PCR was determined using TaqMan gene expression assays for IL-1B, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and IFN-γ quantification. The cytokine expression showed highly significant increased expressions of IL-6 and IL-10 on days 2 and 6, while the other pro-inflammatory cytokines did not have significantly increased expression. The results from the kinome array demonstrated that the cecas from birds fed with 1% ChT had significant (p < 0.05) metabolic alterations based on the number of peptides when compared to the control group across all days tested. Conclusions Based on the results, the increased expression of IL-6 appeared to be strongly indicative of altered metabolism while the increased expression of IL-10 indicated the regulatory effect against other pro-inflammatory cytokines other than IL-6. The ChTs initiate a metabolic mechanism during the first ten days in the broiler. For the first time, we show that a phytobiotic product initially modulates metabolism rather than immunity while also potentially supporting growth and feed efficiency downstream. In conclusion, an IL6-mediated immunometabolic phenotypic alteration in the ceca of chickens fed ChT may indicate the importance in the gut of enhanced broiler health.
'/%3e%3cpath id='l' d='M-26.25 0h52.5v-12h-40.5v-16h33v-12h-33v-11H25v-12h-51.25z'/%3e%3cpath id='k' d='M-31.5 0h12v-48l14 48h11l14-48V0h12v-70H14L0-22l-14-48h-17.5z'/%3e%3cpath id='b' fill-rule='evenodd' d='M0 0a31.5 35 0 0 0 0-70A31.5 35 0 0 0 0 0m0-13a18.5 22 0 0 0 0-44 18.5 22 0 0 0 0 44'/%3e%3cpath id='d' fill-rule='evenodd' d='M-31.5 0h13v-26h28a22 22 0 0 0 0-44h-40zm13-39h27a9 9 0 0 0 0-18h-27z'/%3e%3cpath id='n' d='M-15.75-22C-15.75-15-9-11.5 1-11.5s14.74-3.25 14.75-7.75c0-14.25-46.75-5.25-46.5-30.25C-30.5-71-6-70 3-70s26 4 25.75 21.25H13.5c0-7.5-7-10.25-15-10.25-7.75 0-13.25 1.25-13.25 8.5-.25 11.75 46.25 4 46.25 28.75C31.5-3.5 13.5 0 0 0c-11.5 0-31.55-4.5-31.5-22z'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23a' id='o' transform='scale(31.5)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23a' id='p' transform='scale(26.25)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23a' id='r' transform='scale(21)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23a' id='q' transform='scale(15)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23a' id='s' transform='scale(10.5)'/%3e%3cg id='m'%3e%3cclipPath id='c'%3e%3cpath d='M-31.5 0v-70h63V0zM0-47v12h31.5v-12z'/%3e%3c/clipPath%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23b' clip-path='url(%23c)'/%3e%3cpath d='M5-35h26.5v10H5z'/%3e%3cpath d='M21.5-35h10V0h-10z'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3cg id='h'%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23d'/%3e%3cpath d='M28 0c0-10 0-32-15-32H-6c22 0 22 22 22 32'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3cg id='a' fill='%23fff'%3e%3cg id='f'%3e%3cpath id='e' d='M0-1v1h.5' transform='rotate(18 0 -1)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23e' transform='scale(-1 1)'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23f' transform='rotate(72)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23f' transform='rotate(-72)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23f' transform='rotate(144)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23f' transform='rotate(216)'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/defs%3e%3crect width='100%25' height='100%25' x='-50%25' y='-50%25' fill='%23009b3a'/%3e%3cpath fill='%23fedf00' d='M-1743 0 0 1113 1743 0 0-1113z'/%3e%3ccircle r='735' fill='%23002776'/%3e%3cclipPath id='g'%3e%3ccircle r='735'/%3e%3c/clipPath%3e%3cpath fill='%23fff' d='M-2205 1470a1785 1785 0 0 1 3570 0h-105a1680 1680 0 1 0-3360 0z' clip-path='url(%23g)'/%3e%3cg fill='%23009b3a' transform='translate(-420 1470)'%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23b' y='-1697.5' transform='rotate(-7)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23h' y='-1697.5' transform='rotate(-4)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23i' y='-1697.5' transform='rotate(-1)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23j' y='-1697.5' transform='rotate(2)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23k' y='-1697.5' transform='rotate(5)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23l' y='-1697.5' transform='rotate(9.75)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23d' y='-1697.5' transform='rotate(14.5)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23h' y='-1697.5' transform='rotate(17.5)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23b' y='-1697.5' transform='rotate(20.5)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23m' y='-1697.5' transform='rotate(23.5)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23h' y='-1697.5' transform='rotate(26.5)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23j' y='-1697.5' transform='rotate(29.5)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23n' y='-1697.5' transform='rotate(32.5)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23n' y='-1697.5' transform='rotate(35.5)'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23b' y='-1697.5' transform='rotate(38.5)'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23o' x='-600' y='-132'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23o' x='-535' y='177'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23p' x='-625' y='243'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23q' x='-463' y='132'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23p' x='-382' y='250'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23r' x='-404' y='323'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23o' x='228' y='-228'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23o' x='515' y='258'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23r' x='617' y='265'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23p' x='545' y='323'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23p' x='368' y='477'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23r' x='367' y='551'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23r' x='441' y='419'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23p' x='500' y='382'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23r' x='365' y='405'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23p' x='-280' y='30'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23r' x='200' y='-37'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23o' y='330'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23p' x='85' y='184'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23p' y='118'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23r' x='-74' y='184'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23q' x='-37' y='235'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23p' x='220' y='495'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23r' x='283' y='430'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23r' x='162' y='412'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23o' x='-295' y='390'/%3e%3cuse xlink:href='%23s' y='575'/%3e%3c/svg%3e)
