Effect of nutritional interventions with quercetin, oat hulls, β-glucans, lysozyme, and fish oil on immune competence related parameters of adult broiler

Abstract

2015. Effect of nutritional interventions with quercetin, oat hulls, β-glucans, lysozyme or fish oil on immune competence related parameters of adult broilers. Wageningen Livestock Research Report 977.The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of five nutritional interventions, provided during d 14 -28, including inclusion of a plant extract (quercetin); an insoluble fiber (oat hulls); a prebiotic (β-glucan); an anti-microbial protein (lysozyme), and ω-3 fatty acids from fish oil, on growth performance, composition of the intestinal microbiota, and morphology and gene expression of small intestine of broilers. Despite the different types of interventions, parameters related to immune competence were only marginally affected by the tested products. It seemed that in this study inclusion of oat hulls, and probably β-glucans, had perspective to improve immune competence. It is recommended to revaluate some of the tested interventions, especially dietary inclusion of oat hulls and β-glucans, in broilers starting from day-old onward.This report can be downloaded for free at http://dx. References 37Appendix 1 Calculated composition of the diets 48 Appendix 2 Calculated composition of the starter and finisher diets 49 Appendix 3 Chemical and nutritional composition of the rapeseed extract used in the present experiment comparing with canola meal (Khajali and Slominski, 2012) 50Limited effects of nutritional interventions were observed on gene expression of the gut tissue, and the genes differently expressed between dietary treatments do not seem to be directly involved in immune related processes. Despite the different types of interventions, parameters related to immune competence were only marginally affected by the tested products. It seemed that in this study inclusion of oat hulls, and probably β-glucans, had perspective to improve immune competence. It is recommended to revaluate some of the tested interventions, especially dietary inclusion of oat hulls and β-glucans, in broilers starting from day-old onward.

Quercetin extracted from Sophora japonica flower improves growth performance, nutrient digestibility, cecal microbiota, organ indexes, and breast quality in broiler chicks

“…Goliomytis et al [ 12 ] reported that feeding broiler chicks with 0.5 or 1.0 g/kg quercetin dihydrate compound containing diet had no effects on the BWG and FI, but increased FCR. In addition, many studies have reported that the growth performance was not affected in broiler chicks fed with a chemically synthesized quercetin containing diet [ 13 , 14 , 16 , 22 ]. Conversely, Abid et al [ 18 ] reported that supplementing 0.1, 0.2, or 0.3 g/kg quercetin extracted from the locust tree to the diet of broiler chicks had positive effects on the growth performance.…”

“…The bursa of fabricius is the important immune organ in broiler chicks [ 13 ]. Reduced weight of the immune organs represents immunosuppression, while an increase in the weight of immune organs is a manifestation of the enhancement of immunity [ 56 ].…”

“…The sources of quercetin include chemical synthesis or plant extraction. It has been reported that dietary supplementation of chemically synthesized quercetin was not beneficial to the growth performance in broiler chicks [8,[11][12][13][14][15][16]. Therefore, modern poultry husbandry focused on the quercetin derived in plant.…”