Effects of dietary supplementation with an antimicrobial peptide-P5 on growth performance, nutrient retention, excreta and intestinal microflora and intestinal morphology of broilers

Effects of cLFchimera, a recombinant antimicrobial peptide, on intestinal morphology, microbiota, and gene expression of immune cells and tight junctions in broiler chickens challenged withC. perfringens

“…Results of the current study showed that AMP decreased gut lesion and mortality induced by NE and also improved growth attributes in challenged chickens similar to antibiotic fed birds, which is in agreement with previous results [9, 10]. While most of the previous researches have studied the effects of AMPs in chickens in normal conditions, Hu et al [29] demonstrated that supplementing broilers diet with AMP improved their weight gain and FCR under heat stress, which is in agreement with the current results.…”

“…They reported that AMP reduced the incidence of diarrhea post-challenge and improved weight gain and FCR compared to challenged group, which is similar to the present findings regarding the reduction in gut lesion and improvement in performance. Previous studies attributed the beneficial effects of AMPs on growth performance of chickens to their fundamental roles in maintaining microbial balance in the gut and consequently improvement in the intestinal morphometry [9, 10].…”

“…AMPs show broad-spectrum antimicrobial activities against various microorganisms, including Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, fungi, and viruses [5]. These peptides are well-known for their roles as competent alternatives for antibiotics in farm animal production [7, 8, 9, 10, and 11]. The results of these studies demonstrated that AMPs could improve growth performance, nutrient digestibility and gut health, positively alter intestinal microbiota, and enhance immune function in pigs and broilers.…”

Effects of dietary fermentation concentrate of Hericium caput‐medusae (Bull.:Fr.) Pers. on growth performance, digestibility, and intestinal microbiology and morphology in broiler chickens

“…For this purpose, three favourably orientated sections cut perpendicularly from villus enterocytes to the muscularis mucosa were selected from each animal and measurements were carried as follows: villous height was estimated by measuring the vertical distance from the villous tip to villous–crypt junction level for 10 villi per section; crypt depth (the vertical distance from the villous–crypt junction to the lower limit of the crypt) was estimated for 10 corresponding crypts per section, and villus height to crypt depth ratio was calculated …”

“…For this purpose, three favourably orientated sections cut perpendicularly from villus enterocytes to the muscularis mucosa were selected from each animal and measurements were carried as follows: villous height was estimated by measuring the vertical distance from the villous tip to villous-crypt junction level for 10 villi per section; crypt depth (the vertical distance from the villous-crypt junction to the lower limit of the crypt) was estimated for 10 corresponding crypts per section, and villus height to crypt depth ratio was calculated. 2,21 Apparent digestibility At day 38, two birds from each replicate were allocated to individual cage (20 cm × 40 cm), to facilitate collection of excreta samples. Dietary chromium oxide (Cr 2 O 3 ) (2.5 g kg −1 ) as an indigestible marker was added to the diets, and excreta samples were collected for 4 days.…”