Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Biosciences & Biotechnology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #301565
Title: Immune and anti-oxidant effects of in ovo selenium proteinate on post-hatch experimental avian necrotic enteritis

Author
item Lee, Sung
item Lillehoj, Hyun
item JEONG, MISUN - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item XU, SHOUZHEN - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item KIM, JUNG - Rural Development Administration - Korea
item PARK, HONG - Rural Development Administration - Korea
item BRAVO, DAVID - Pancosma Sa

Submitted to: Veterinary Parasitology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/9/2014
Publication Date: 12/28/2014
Citation: Lee, S.H., Lillehoj, H.S., Jeong, M., Xu, S., Kim, J.B., Park, H.J., Bravo, D. 2014. Immune and anti-oxidant effects of in ovo selenium proteinate on post-hatch experimental avian necrotic enteritis. Veterinary Parasitology. 206(3-4):115-122.

Interpretive Summary: Selenium (Se) is a micronutrient that has proven beneficial effect in humans. As a dietary supplement, Se reduces the harmful effect of bacteria-mediated oxidative stress and enhances host immunity against pathogens. In this report, ARS scientists used this information to utilize Se as a dietary supplement to enhance avian immunity against the gut bacterium, Clostridium perfringens. It is well known that early infection with Clostridium bacteria in young poultry causes negative effects on their growth and delays proper functioning of the immune system of their gut. This study showed that the administration of Se, incorporated into hydrolyzed soybean protein, into the egg (in ovo) during incubation reduced the gut lesions caused by Clostridium bacteria and reduced toxins produced by this bacteria. Further, the beneficial effects of giving Se to young chickens suggest that we can improve productivity of commercial poultry by providing critical nutrients that can boost the host’s immunity. This information will help nutrition companies to produce more effective diets for growing poultry.

Technical Abstract: This study was conducted to investigate the effects of in ovo administration of selenium (Se) incorporated into hydrolyzed soybean protein (B-Taxim [BT]) on protection against experimental avian necrotic enteritis (NE). Broiler eggs were injected with either 100 µl of PBS alone (BT0), or 20 or 40 µg/egg of BT in PBS (BT20, BT40) at 18 days of embryogenesis. On day 14 post-hatch, the chickens were uninfected or orally infected with 1.0 × 104 oocysts of Eimeria maxima (E. maxima). On day 18 post-hatch, E. maxima-infected chickens were orally infected with 1.0 x 109 CFU of Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens). Compared with untreated and infected BT0 controls, BT20 and/or BT40 birds had increased body weights, decreased fecal shedding of E. maxima oocysts, increased levels of serum antibodies against C. perfringens a-toxin and NetB toxin, decreased levels of serum malondialdehyde, reduced serum catalase and superoxide dismutase catalytic activities, and increased intestinal levels of gene transcripts encoding interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6, IL-8, and peroxiredoxin-6, but decreased levels of transcripts for catalase and glutathione peroxidase. Interestingly, transcript levels for inducible nitric oxide synthase and paraoxonase/arylesterase 2 were decreased in the BT20 group and increased in the BT40 group, compared with BT0 controls. These results suggest that in ovo administration of broiler chickens with a Se-containing protein hydrolysate may enhance protection against experimental NE by altering the expression of critical proinflammatory and anti-oxidant genes and pathways.