Efficacy of protected sodium butyrate, a protected blend of essential oils, their combination, and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens spore suspension against artificially induced necrotic enteritis in broilers

Necrotic enteritis caused by Clostridium perfringens leads to serious economical losses to the poultry industry. There is a growing need to find effective, nontoxic, antibiotic alternatives to prevent and cure the disease. In our study, the efficacy of protected sodium butyrate at 1.5 g/kg (BP70), a Bacillus amyloliquefaciens spore suspension with 10(9) cfu/g (BAL; Ecobiol), a protected blend of essential oils (1%) at 1.5 g/kg (EO), and a combination of sodium butyrate with essential oils (1%) protected with vegetable fat at 1.5 g/ kg (BP70+EO; Natesse) was investigated in an artifical C. perfringens-infection model. Body weight gain, gross pathological and histopathological lesion scores, villus lengths, and villus length: crypt depth ratio was determined and compared with the control group. Broilers infected with C. perfringens and treated with essential oils or the combination of sodium butyrate and essential oils showed significantly better BW gain (P < 0.05), increased villus length and villus length: crypt depth ratio (P < 0.001), and decreased gross pathological and histopathological lesion scores (P < 0.05) compared with the control. Sodium butyrate alone and B. amyloliquefaciens spore suspension had no beneficial effects on the course of the disease in this study. According to our results, the protected combination of sodium butyrate and essential oils, as well as the protected essential oils, can be potential candidates for the prevention and treatment of necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens.