Effect of yeast cell product (CitriStim) supplementation on turkey performance and intestinal immune cell parameters during an experimental lipopolysaccharide injection

An experiment was conducted to identify the effect of whole yeast cell product supplementation in turkeys following an experimental inflammatory challenge. A total of 105 one-day-old turkey tom poults were fed basal diets supplemented with 0, 0.1, and 0.2% whole yeast cell product (CitriStim, ADM, Quincy, IL). At 6 wk of age and 16 wk of age, turkeys were injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) at 0 or 0.25 mg/kg of BW in a 3 x 2 factorial arrangement. BW gain (P = 0.31) and feed conversion ratio (P = 0.53; 3.13, 2.94, and 2.98 for the 0, 0.10, and 0.20% CitriStim treatments, respectively) at 15 wk of age were not significantly affected by the treatment diets. Yeast cell wall product supplementation had no effect on growth in control-injected turkeys but decreased growth in LPS-injected turkeys (yeast x LPS, P < 0.05). Splenic macrophages from birds fed whole yeast cell product and injected with LPS produced higher (P < 0.01) nitric oxide than the control group injected with LPS at both 6 and 16 wk of age. At 6 and 16 wk of age, birds injected with LPS (P < 0.01; P < 0.01) and supplemented with whole yeast cell product (P = 0.05; P = 0.10) showed increased IL-1 mRNA amounts in cecal tonsils. In birds not injected with LPS, whole yeast cell supplementation increased regulatory T cell percentage and IL-10 mRNA amounts, whereas in birds injected with LPS, whole yeast cell supplementation decreased IL-10 mRNA amounts at both 6 (P < 0.01) and 16 wk (P = 0.01) of age in cecal tonsils. Whole yeast cell product supplementation increased Lactobacillus (P < 0.01 and P = 0.01) and Bifidobacteria (P < 0.01 and P = 0.01) population at 6 and 16 wk of age. In conclusion, the effect of feeding whole yeast cell product on turkeys was dependent on the inflammatory status of the bird.