Journal
POULTRY SCIENCE
Volume 89, Issue 2, Pages 203-216Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.3382/ps.2009-00418
Keywords
chicken; direct-fed microbial; immune response; growth performance; intestinal morphometry
Categories
Funding
- Agricultural Research Service-USDA
- Danisco
- Agricultural Research Service [1265-32000-086-00D]
- Ministry of Public Administration and Security, South Korea
Ask authors/readers for more resources
This study was conducted to compare growth performance, gut morphometry, and parameters of local and systemic immunity in broiler chickens fed for 22 consecutive days with a diet supplemented with Bacillus spp. as direct-fed microbials (DFM), a commercial product incorporating 3 DFM, or a non-supplemented diet. Direct-fed microbials did not significantly modify BW gain and most failed to affect serum antibody levels in response to immunization with a recombinant Eimeria protein. However, altered intestinal morphometric measurements were readily apparent in DFM-fed chickens as revealed by increased villus height and crypt depth compared with non-DFM-fed controls. In addition, serum levels of alpha-1-acid glycoprotein as an inflammatory marker were reduced in DFM-fed birds, whereas splenic lymphocyte proliferation, intestine intraepithelial lymphocyte subpopulations, and cytokine mRNA levels in intraepithelial lymphocytes were increased, decreased, or unchanged compared with controls depending on the DFM used. These results provide a rational scientific basis for future studies to investigate DFM as immunomodulating agents to enhance host protective immunity against enteric pathogens in broiler chickens.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available