Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of probiotic powder containing Lactobacillus plantarum 1.2567 in necrotic enteritis model of broiler chickens

Lactobacillus is widely studied for prevention and treatment of intestinal diseases. The study was conducted to determine anti-inflammatory and antioxidative potential of Lactobacillus plantarum 1.2567 using necrotic enteritis (NES) model of broiler chickens caused by Clostridium perfringens. A total of 288 one-day-old broiler chickens were randomly categorized into 4 treatments: CON (basal diet), NES (CON + C. perfringens), LPT (NES + L. plantarum1.2567 powder with skim milk) and SKT (NES + skim milk). Results showed that L. plantarum 1.2567 increased average daily gain of the challenged broiler chickens (P < 0.05), reduced gross lesion scores of the small intestines and ameliorated ileum histopathology (P < 0.05), improved structure of enterocyte microvilli (P < 0.001), attenuated the nitric oxide concentration and myeloperoxidase activity (P < 0.05), reduced the chTNF-alpha and IL-1 beta levels and enhanced the activity of SOD and CAT(P < 0.05), and decreased MDA content (P < 0.05). But skim milk only improved structure of enterocyte microvilli of the challenged broiler chickens (P < 0.05). In conclusion, L. plantarum 1.2567 is a promising tool to control NES by regulating the intestinal mucosal immune response, and improving villi structure and antioxidant defense system in broiler chickens.