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| Intestinal (duodenum, jejunum, and ileum) morphological structure in broilers on day 42. The pictures were observed at 100× magnification (n = 8). NC, negative control supplied with the basal diets; PC, positive control supplied with the basal diets and 5 mg/kg flavomycin; OA, the basal diets supplied with 0.3% (day 0-21) and 0.2% (day 22-42) organic acids feed additives.
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The present study aimed to investigate the effects of organic acids (OA) as alternatives for antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) on growth performance, intestinal structure, as well as intestinal microbial composition and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) profiles in broilers. A total of 336 newly hatched male Arbor Acres broiler chicks were randomly a...
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Context 1
... light micrographs of small intestine morphology were exhibited in Figure 1. We could clearly find that OA and AGP increased the VH of the ileum. ...
Context 2
... high expression of Claudin-1 resulted in increased tightness and decreased permeability of epithelial cells in chickens ( Awad et al., 2017). ZO-1 is among important molecules that interact directly with claudins and provide a scaffold that facilitates regulation of the expression (Bauer et al., 2010). Therefore, changes in the expression of Claudins-1 and Claudins-3 are accompanied by up-regulated the expression of ZO-1 in OA and PC groups. ...
Citations
... Organic acids, a sort of weak acids which have a carboxylic acid group (R-COOH), intermediates in the degradation pathways of carbohydrates, amino acids and fats, and have nutritional value and antimicrobial effects in animal diets (Caneschi et al., 2023). It has been proved that organic acids could maintain gut barrier cellular integrity, modulate intestinal microbiota, improve digestion and nutrient absorption rate and production performance (Nguyen and Kim, 2020;Dai et al., 2021). A previous study showed that supplementation of butyric acid and its salts could modulate gut microbiota and keep poultry intestinal health (Yadav and Jha, 2019). ...
Studies have reported that theabrownin can moderate the lipid metabolism and intestinal microbiota, thereby affecting the health of humans and model animals, however the research on laying hens is scarce. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary theabrownin supplementation on lipid metabolism, microbial composition and ovarian function in laying hens. A total of 80 laying hens (25 wk of age) were fed with normal diet (CON) and normal diet +100 mg/kg theabrownin (PT group) for 12 wk. The results showed that the addition of theabrownin enhanced villus height of duodenum and decreased crypt depth of jejunum (P < 0.05). At the same time, compared with CON, the concentration of IL-6 and the mRNA expression of IL-1β and IL-6 were decreased significantly in PT group (P < 0.05). Dietary theabrownin reduced the concentration of total cholesterol and glycerol, while decreased lipid droplet optical density in liver (P < 0.05). Compared with CON group, the mRNA expression of PPARγ, HMG-CoAS, ACC were down-regulated and the mRNA expression of CYP8B1 was up-regulated in PT group (P < 0.05). The ACE, Chao1 and Observed_species indexes in cecum microbiota were increased by PT group intervention (P < 0.05). Dietary PT supplementation enhanced the relative abundance of Firmicutes (phylum), Lactobacillus (genus) and the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio, and reduced the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes (phylum) in cecum (P < 0.05). The organic acids and its derivatives were up-regulated by theabrownin intervention in serum metabolites (P < 0.05). Dietary theabrownin supplementation resulted in higher mRNA expression of Bcl-2 and SIRT1 in ovary and increased the concentration of estradiol in serum (P < 0.05). These discovering indicated that dietary theabrownin supplementation enhanced the intestinal function and influenced serum metabolism by improving intestinal morphology, microbiota community structure and reducing the concentration and expression of inflammatory cytokines in intestine. Dietary theabrownin reduced hepatic lipid deposition and it also decreased the cell apoptosis rate to improve ovarian function and egg weight which were associated with the SIRT1 pathway.
... The oral administration of probiotics can inhibit the growth of diseaseassociated bacteria and promote host health (Kerry et al., 2018). In addition to live microorganisms, several additives, including feed enzymes (Kiarie et al., 2013), signaling molecules (Vincent et al., 2022), and organic acids (Dai et al., 2021), have been used to promote or inhibit the growth of beneficial or harmful microorganisms. These additives commonly act on a wide range of microorganisms, making it difficult to precisely manipulate the microbiome community structure. ...
Microbiome engineering is an emerging research field that aims to design an artificial microbiome and modulate its function. In particular, subtractive modification of the microbiome allows us to create an artificial microbiome without the microorganism of interest and to evaluate its functions and interactions with other constituent bacteria. However, few techniques that can specifically remove only a single species from a large number of microorganisms and can be applied universally to a variety of microorganisms have been developed. Antisense peptide nucleic acid (PNA) is a potent designable antimicrobial agent that can be delivered into microbial cells by conjugating with a cell-penetrating peptide (CPP). Here, we tested the efficacy of the conjugate of CPP and PNA (CPP-PNA) as microbiome modifiers. The addition of CPP-PNA specifically inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas putida in an artificial bacterial consortium comprising E. coli, P. putida, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum. Moreover, the growth inhibition of P. putida promoted the growth of P. fluorescens and inhibited the growth of L. plantarum. These results indicate that CPP-PNA can be used not only for precise microbiome engineering but also for analyzing the growth relationships among constituent microorganisms in the microbiome.
... This has encouraged the exploration of alternative means to improve health, including non-therapeutic options such as enzymes, probiotics, prebiotics, herbs, essential oils, immunostimulants, and organic acids. In this regard, organic acids are selected as a promising feed additive in poultry production due to their ability to maintain gut barrier cellular integrity, modulate intestinal microbiota, improve digestion and nutrient absorption rate, and contribute to improved production performance (Dai et al., 2020). Citric acid as a tricarboxylic acid (TCA) has gained considerable attention in poultry production as it is used as an energy source for prime enterocytes (Hosna, 2018) or for the bactericidal efficacy against harmful species (for example, Escherichia coli) (Shah et al., 2018). ...
This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of citric acid (CA) on carcass characteristics and physico-chemical attributes of male Venda chickens. A total of 200 male, one-day-old Venda chicks were distributed in a completely randomized design with four treatments and five replicates of 10 chickens each. The treatments were as follows: four diets with citric acid supplementation of 0, 12.5, 25, and 50g CA/kg. In this study, the live weight, carcass weight, thigh weight, drumstick weight, and carcass yield were higher in CA25 than in other treatments. The wing weight was higher in CA12.5 than in CA0. The highest value was determined in CA0, followed by CA12.5, and CA25, respectively, according to pH24 h, pH48 h, pH72 h, cooking loss, as well as shear force. The lowest value was recorded in CA50 as expected. The pH24 h, pH48 h, pH72 h, cooking loss, and shear force were found to be similar. The current study indicates that 12.5 and 50 g CA/kg can be used easily in the diet of male Venda chickens without any negative effects.
... The gut microbiota plays an essential role in physiological processes like nutrient absorption, immunity, digestion, etc., significantly contributing to overall health [40]. Many alternative supplements like probiotics, prebiotics [41], phytogens [42], and organic acids [43] have shown promising results in improving chicken health when compared to antibiotics [44]. However, altering the microbiota composition of the gut alone may not be sufficient. ...
Simple Summary
The intensive poultry production system faces production challenges like pathogenic infections, poor performance, and bird welfare. The use of antibiotics has been reduced due to regulations and increasing antimicrobial resistance, promoting research into viable alternatives. Precision glycans represent an alternative that modulates the gut microbial community and its metabolic functions. This study compares birds fed precision glycan-supplemented and non-supplemented diets in a commercial broiler farm. We report major alterations in microbiota across caecum, ileum, and ileum mucosa gut sections. The treated birds also showed better intestinal morphology and higher weight gain with an improvement in feed efficiency and disease resistance.
Abstract
The poultry industry contributes significantly to the global meat industry but faces many production challenges like high-density housing, welfare issues, and pathogenic infections. While antibiotics have commonly been used to treat many of these issues, they are being removed from poultry production globally due to increased microbial resistance. Precision glycans offer a viable alternative to antibiotics by modulating microbial metabolic pathways. In this study, we investigated the effects of precision glycan supplementation on productivity and gut microbiota in broilers. The experiment was conducted in a commercial setting using 32,400 male Ross chickens randomly divided into three sheds with 10,800 birds each. One shed with 12 pen replicates of 900 birds was used as control, while the other two with an equal number of replicates and birds were assigned to precision glycan supplementation. The treatment significantly improved the average daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio, with a significant modification in the abundance of several bacterial taxa in the caecum, ileum, and ileum mucosa microbial communities. There was increased richness and diversity in the caecum, with a reduction in Proteobacteria and an increase in Firmicutes. Richness remained unchanged in the ileum, with an increase in diversity and reduction in pathogenic genera like Clostridium and Escherichia-Shigella. Ileum mucosa showed a lower abundance of mucin degraders and an increased presence of next-generation probiotics. Supplemented birds showed a high level of disease resistance when the farm experienced an outbreak of infectious bronchitis, evidenced by lower mortality. Histological analysis confirmed improvements in the ileum and liver health, where the precision glycan supplementation reduced the area of congested sinusoids compared to the control group in the liver and significantly improved ileum intestinal morphology by increasing crypt depth and surface area. These results collectively suggest that precision glycans offer substantial benefits in poultry production by improving productivity, gut health, and disease resistance.
... Removing gluten short-term from the human diet has been correlated with a decreased abundance of Veillonellaceae, and when cattle are fed fermented corn gluten-wheat diets, there is an increase in Prevotella and Veillonellaceae abundances [65,66]. Both families are known propionate producers, contributing to gut integrity and health [66][67][68]. ...
... All five treatments demonstrated an increased abundance of the genus Prevotella compared to the combined FC control. The production of the SCFA, propionate, is supported by a larger abundance of Prevotella, which has implications for host performance, including Salmonella reduction, energy regulation, and immunoregulation [67][68][69]. Lactobacillus, like Prevotella, also produces SCFAs (61). Similar to findings in separate prebiotic studies, Lactobacillus was prevalent among four of the treatment groups, Hilyses, Immunowall, Maxigen, and XPC, compared to the controls [24,68]. ...
48 Yeast-derived products have become more of an interest in the poultry industry as of late because of their use in modulating the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) microbiome to both improve production parameters and prevent infection. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of various yeast-derived products on Salmonella enterica inoculation in un in vitro rooster cecal incubations and associated effects on the cecal microbiome. Cecal contents were obtained from 53-wk old White Leghorn H & N Nick Chick roosters (n=3) fed a wheat-based, commercial-type basal diet. Cecal contents were diluted 1:3000 in anaerobic dilution solution (ADS) in an anaerobic chamber, with 20 m L aliquoted to each serum bottle. There were three controls (n=3): basal diet only, diluted cecal contents only, and basal diet and diluted cecal contents; and five treatments containing the basal diet and diluted cecal contents (n=3): Citristim® (ADM), ImmunoWall® (ICC), Maxi-Gen Plus® (CBS Bio Platforms), Hilyses® (ICC), and Original XPC® (Diamond V). All treatments were applied at a rate of 2.5 kg/tonne or less. All groups were inoculated with a nalidixic acid-resistant strain of Salmonella Enteritidis at 10^7 CFU/mL and incubated at 37 deg C. Samples were collected at 0, 24, and 48 h for S. Enteritidis enumeration and 16S rDNA microbial sequencing. Salmonella data were log-transformed and analyzed in a two-way ANOVA with means separated using Tukey’s HSD (P≤0.05). Genomic DNA was extracted, and resulting libraries were prepared and sequenced using an Illumina MiSeq. Sequencing data were analyzed in QIIME2 (2021.4) with diversity metrics (alpha and beta), and an analysis of the composition of microbiomes (ANCOM) was performed. Main effects were considered significant at P≤0.05, with pairwise differences considered significant at Q≤0.05. There was an interaction of treatment and time on the enumeration of Salmonella where treatments of Citristim, Immunowall, Hilyses, and XPC reduced Salmonella by 1 log CFU/mL compared to the controls. At 48 h, each yeast product treatment reduced Salmonella by 3 log CFU/mL compared to the controls. There was no main effect of treatment on the alpha diversity metrics, richness, or evenness (P > 0.05). Treatment affected the beta diversity, abundance, and phylogenetic differences, but there were no pairwise differences (P>0.05, Q>0.05). Using ANCOM at the genus level, the taxa Synergistes, Alloprevotella, Sutterella, and Megasphaera abundance were significantly different (W=154,147,145,140, respectively). These results demonstrate the potential of these yeast-derived products to reduce foodborne pathogens, such as Salmonella Enteriditis, in vitro, without negatively disrupting the cecal microbiome.
... Sun et al. [53] found that the broilers fed fermented cottonseed meal have higher VH and VH/CD in the jejuna and duodena. The feed fermentation creates organic acids, which stimulate gastro-intestinal cell proliferation and potentially increase the intestinal surface area by improving the VH [56,57]. The higher VH/CD indicated a more vital integrated functional state of the small intestine [58]. ...
Simple Summary
The chicken digestive system is not fully developed, and the feed type and shape have essential effects on it. The growth performance and health status would be affected in various ways during this stage. Immune function and antioxidant capacity can explain this mechanism at the endocrine level. Fermented feed is a new feed type that saves food crops, has the potential to promote growth and development, improve animal welfare and help them stay healthy, and is beneficial to human food safety. We studied the effects of fermented feed on the growth performance, antioxidant activity, immune function, intestinal digestive enzyme activity, morphology, and microflora of yellow-feather chickens. The results showed that adding fermented feed increased the digestive enzyme activity, ameliorated intestinal morphology, cecal microflora, beneficial bacteria richness, immune function, and antioxidational ability of chickens without effects on growth performance. In conclusion, the fermented feed added to the chickens’ diets improved the growth performance, antioxidant activity, immune function, intestinal digestive enzyme activity, morphology, and microflora of yellow-feather chickens. This study offers a more theoretical basis for exploiting and utilizing new fermented feed resources and the sustainable and healthy development of poultry farming.
Abstract
This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of fermented feed on growth performance, antioxidant activity, immune function, intestinal digestive enzyme activity, morphology, and microflora of yellow-feather chickens. A total of 240 one-day-old female yellow-feathered (Hexi dwarf) chickens were randomly divided into two treatment groups, with six replicates per group and 20 chickens per replicate. The control group (CK) received a basal diet, whereas the experimental group was fed a basal diet of +2.00% fermented feed (FJ). The trial lasted for 22 days. Compared with the CK, (1) the growth performance was not affected (p > 0.05); (2) immunoglobin a, immunoglobin g, immunoglobin m, interleukin-1β, and interleukin-6 were affected (p < 0.05); (3) liver superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase were higher (p < 0.05); (4) trypsin activity in the duodenum and cecal Shannon index were increased (p < 0.05); (5) the relative abundance of Actinobacteriota in cecum was increased (p < 0.05); (6) the abundance of dominant microflora of Bacteroides as well as Clostridia UCG-014_norank were increased (p < 0.05). In summary, the fermented feed improved the growth performance, antioxidant activity, immune function, intestinal digestive enzyme activity, morphology, and microflora of yellow-feather chickens.
... One of the challenges in using SB as an additive is getting it to the intestinal tract to deliver the molecule to the preferred location. Thus, to regulate the population balance of intestinal bacteria, acidification of the intestinal environment is essential, as it will control potential pathogens (Onrust et al. 2020;Dai et al. 2021). ...
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of microencapsulated sodium butyrate (MSB) in substitution to antibiotics on performance, haematology, intestinal lesion scores, and oocyst count in the excreta of broilers challenged with Eimeria spp. A total of 1050 male Ross chicks were used, distributed in completely randomized design, with six treatments: unchallenged control diet (UC); challenged control diet (CCD); challenged and supplemented (CS) with 1000 mg/kg of MSB; CS with 1500 mg/kg of MSB; CS with 2000 mg/kg of MSB; and CS with avilamycin, with five repetitions. At 16 days of age (d.o.), the birds were inoculated orally with Eimeria spp. oocysts. Higher average weightgain (AWG) and average feed intake (AFI) were observed in the UC, and at the 42 d.o., better feed conversion ratio (FCR) and productive efficiency factor (PEF). The group that received the additives showed higher relative abundance of the phylum Bacteroidetes, as well as that of the unchallenged birds; however, the CCD had higher relative abundance of the phylum Firmicutes. It is concluded that MSB can be used as an alternative to antibiotics, assisting in the recovery of performance and gut microbiota biodiversity.
... Organic acids (OAs) has numerous beneficial including antibacterial, intestinal integrity or gut development promotion, improvement of nutrient digestibility, higher population of beneficial microbiomes (Lactobacillus spp.), lower counts of harmful bacterial in the gut, antistress, and immune modulative which finally reflected on the animal health and productivity (Abudabos and Al-Mufarrej, 2014;Abudabos et al., 2016;Emami et al., 2017;Dittoe et al., 2018;Nguyen et al., 2020;Dai et al., 2021). Also, organic acids exert antibacterial activities against some poultry pathogens such as E. coli (Emami et al., 2017;Kazempour and Jahanian, 2017), Salmonella spp. ...
... Weight gain and feed intake were calculated for the starter (1-14 days), grower (15-36 days), and the entire stages (1-36 days) according to Diler et al. [21]. Feed conversion ratio was determined based on weight gain and feed intake during the feeding stage [22]. Production efficiency index as a parameter of economic, productive, and welfare status of broiler chickens was evaluated during the feeding stage [23]. ...
Simple Summary
Stocking density in broilers (intensive production) is a method to increase meat production and profitability. However, the use of gum arabic as a prebiotic (soluble fiber) is a possible strategy to maintain performance and gut health and prevent physiological stress in this intensive production. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the interaction between the addition of gum arabic and various stocking densities on performance, intestinal morphology, carcass characteristics, lymphoid organs, and selected blood indices of broiler chickens. In this study, gum arabic as a prebiotic was found to improve growth performance, production efficiency, and intestinal morphology, while high stocking density had negative effects on broilers. Further studies are needed to determine the mechanism under various conditions.
Abstract
The present study aims to investigate the interaction between the addition of gum arabic as a prebiotic and various stocking densities on performance indicators, intestinal morphology, carcass characteristics, lymphoid organs, and selected blood indices of broiler chickens. A total of 816 1-day-old male broilers (Ross 308) were used and randomly divided into six blocks as replicates with eight treatments per block (forty-eight floor pens) based on 4 × 2 factorial arrangements with four dietary treatments containing 0.00% (CONT), 0.12% gum arabic (T1), 0.25% gum arabic (T2), and 0.10% commercial prebiotic (T3) and two stocking densities (normal = 28 kg/m²; high = 50 kg/m²). All performance indicators were evaluated during the feeding phases. Blood biochemical indicators were analyzed at 36 days of age. At 37 days of age, carcass characteristics, lymphoid organs, and intestinal morphology were measured. On days 1–36, growth performance indicators were negatively affected at high stocking density, but all growth performance indicators except feed intake improved in chickens receiving T1–T3 compared to CONT (p < 0.05). The relative weight of total small intestine and weight-to-length ratio showed a significant interaction between treatments and stocking density (p < 0.05). A high stocking density decreased pre-slaughter weight, carcass weight, and dressing yield, while legs and thymus increased (p < 0.05). None of the interactions or treatments affected carcass characteristics or lymphoid organs (p > 0.05). Indicators of blood biochemistry were not affected by treatments, stocking density, or their interaction (p > 0.05), except for uric acid, creatinine, and aspartate aminotransferase, which were higher at a high stocking density (p < 0.05). In conclusion, gum arabic as a prebiotic improved growth performance, production efficiency, and intestinal morphology in broilers. In contrast, high stocking density negatively affected performance, production efficiency, some blood indices, carcass weight, dressing yield, and intestinal morphology. Further research is needed to determine the mechanism.
... Organic acids play a huge role in the maintenance of broiler health as an antibiotic substitute and additive [6]. The dietary inclusion of three kinds of organic acids products all benefit broiler chickens with a different mode of action [7]. ...
This study aimed to disclose the effects of a new compound organic acidifier mixing with L-malic acid and L-lactic acid on broiler production. A total of 1000 1-day-old Arbor acres broiler chicks were randomly divided into two treatments of 10 replicates each, with 50 birds per replicate. The feeding trial lasted for 42 days. The treatment group was offered 0.8% of the acidifier based on the control. The growth performance of the broiler chickens was improved by treatment. The broiler chickens in treatment had lower triglyceride but higher high-density lipoprotein content in serum. Superoxide dismutase activity, total antioxidant capacity and the concentrations of immunoglobulin A, complement 3 and lysozyme were increased in the serum of the broiler chickens, while the concentrations of interleukin-2 and tumor necrosis factor-α in the mucosa of jejunum were decreased by treatment. The expressions of AMPK, CD36, FABP1, MTTP and PPARα were increased but expressions of APOB100 and PCSK9 were decreased by treatment. In conclusion, the acidifier was effective at promoting broiler production, which was probably through the improved immunity, antioxidant and hepatic lipid metabolism capacities. The acidifier may be accelerating lipid metabolism in broiler chicken liver through regulating the expression of the genes related to fat metabolism.
