Effect of Carotenoids, Oligosaccharides and Anthocyanins on Growth Performance, Immunological Parameters and Intestinal Morphology in Broiler Chickens Challenged with Escherichia coli Lipopolysaccharide

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of carotenoid, oligosaccharide and anthocyanin supplementation in broiler diets under Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge. Ross 308 chickens were fed 5 diets: basal diet (control diet), diet supplemented with β-glucan in 0.05% (positive control) and diets with 0.5% carotenoid-, oligosaccharide- or anthocyanin contents. On the 26th days of age, chickens were challenged intraperitoneally 2 mg LPS per kg of body weight. 12 h after injection, birds were euthanized, then spleen and ileum samples were collected. LPS induced increased relative mRNA expression of splenic (p = 0.0445) and ileal (p = 0.0435) interleukin-1β (IL-1β), which was lower in the spleen in carotenoid (p = 0.0114), oligosaccharide (p = 0.0497) and anthocyanin (p = 0.0303)-treated chickens compared to LPS-injected control birds. Dietary supplementation of carotenoids also decreased relative gene expression of splenic interleukin-6 (IL-6) (p = 0.0325). In the ileum, β-glucan supplementation showed lower relative mRNA expression of toll-like receptor 5 (TLR-5) (p = 0.0387) compared to anthocyanin treatment. Gene expression of both splenic and ileal interferon-α (IFN-α), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) and toll-like receptor 5 (TLR-5) were not influenced by dietary supplements. In conclusion, carotenoids, oligosaccharides and anthocyanins could partially mitigate the immune stress caused by LPS challenge. All of the compounds impacted longer villus height (p < 0.0001), villus height:crypt depth ratios were higher after β-glucan (p < 0.0001) and anthocyanin (p = 0.0063) supplementations and thickened mucosa was observed in β-glucan (p < 0.0001), oligosaccharide (p < 0.0001) and anthocyanin (p = 0.048) treatments. All of these findings could represent a more effective absorption of nutrients.

Nutraceuticals Induced Changes in the Broiler Gastrointestinal Tract Microbiota

“…Health-promoting probiotic bacteria can ferment prebiotics that are undigestible and nonabsorbable for the host and convert them to lactic acid and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) (33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38). SCFA-producing bacteria may directly enhance the absorption of some nutrients and hence have a direct influence on metabolic functions.…”

Nutraceuticals Induced Structural Changes in Broiler Gastrointestinal Tract Microbiota

“…Our prior aim was to develop and apply natural feed additives which can stimulate broiler GIT health, without deteriorating the meat production parameters. The feeding program of this trial was applied according to the normatives widely used in Ross 308 chicken production in Hungary [52]. This technology was designed to achieve high weight gain while producing quality meat.…”

“…Carotenoids (TS3) supplement was determined as Remenyik et al [162] and Csernus et al [52] Carotenoids were extracted from Hungarian red sweet pepper powder (in 1-5 g) using dichloroethane:acetone:methanol as solvent mixture in 2:2:1ratio. The mixture was stirred in an ultrasonic water bath for 30 minutes and purified through a Munktell-292 filter paper (VWR International, Debrecen, Hungary).…”

“…al. [52] Hungarian red sweet pepper was also applied to extract fructooligosaccharides (FOSs) with high arabino-galactose content. To assess the composition of oligosaccharides HP 5890 Gas chromatograph was applied with SP-2380 capillary column (30 m x 0.25 mm, 0.2 µm).…”

“…Health-promoting probiotic bacteria can ferment prebiotics which are undigestible and non-absorbable for the host and convert them to lactic acid and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) [50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60]. SCFA producing bacteria may directly enhance the absorption of some nutrients [61][62][63][64][65][66].…”