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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Biosciences & Biotechnology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #339757
Research Project: Non-antibiotic Strategies to Control Enteric Diseases of Poultry

Location: Animal Biosciences & Biotechnology Laboratory

Title: Dietary supplementation of Allium hookeri improved intestinal immune response on necrotic enteritis of young broiler chickens

Author
item Lee, Young
item Lillehoj, Hyun

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/30/2018
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary Allium hookeri (AH) root on host intestinal immune response in necrotic enteritis (NE)-afflicted young broiler chickens. Three hundred birds (one-day-old) were randomly assigned to 6 groups (n =50 birds/treatment) and fed with basal diet (control) or basal diet supplemented with the AH root (1 or 3 %). At day 14 and 25 post hatch, birds in each group were orally challenged with E. maxima 41A (1 × 104/chicken) followed by C. perfringens infection (1 × 109 CFU/chicken) two days later. NE-associated clinical signs and intestinal immune response were assessed by measuring average body weight gain, lesion score and fecal oocyst shedding. The effect of dietary AH supplementation on the transcript levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, tight junction and mucin proteins in the jejunum were quantified by qRT-PCR. Average body weight of birds fed with diet supplementation 3 % of AH was significantly higher than the basal diet group. Among the NE-challenged groups, gut lesion scores and oocyst counts were significantly lower in birds that were fed AH (1 or 3 %) compared to the basal diet group. NE infection induced high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, IL-8, IL-17a, tumor necrosis factor superfamily member 15 (TNFSF15) and LPS-induced tumor necrosis factor-alpha factor (LITAF). However IL-8, IL-17a and LITAF levels were decreased in the AH (1 or 3 %)-supplemented groups. Dietary AH supplementation enhanced the gene expression levels of tight junction proteins, junctional adhesion molecule 2 and occludin, and mucin 2 (MUC2). These findings demonstrate the beneficial effects of dietary AH supplementation in NE-infected young broiler chickens.