Effects of yeast cell walls on performance and immune responses of cyclosporine A-treated, immunosuppressed broiler chickens.

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary yeast ( Saccharomyces cerevisiae ) cell walls (YCW) from the yeast extract industry on performance and immune function of cyclosporine A (CSA)-treated, immunosuppressed broiler chickens. A total of 240 day-old male broilers were allocated randomly into four treatments: (1) non-challenged control; (2) non-challenged control+0·3 % YCW; (3) CSA-challenged group; (4) CSA-challenged+0·3 % YCW. On days 1–4 and 22–25 of age, broilers were subcutaneously injected with CSA or sterile saline. The results showed that supplementation of YCW significantly improved daily weight gain (DWG) during the starter (days 1–21, P P P P >0·05). Compared with the CSA-treated birds, YCW alleviated the decrease of DWG ( P P P P P P P