Effects of Inorganic Zn and Cu Supplementation on Gut Health in Broiler Chickens Challenged With Eimeria spp.

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different levels of inorganic copper and zinc on growth performance, intestinal permeability, intestinal lesion scores, oocyst shedding, antioxidant properties and bone quality in broilers challenged with Eimeria spp. A total of 360 d-old male Cobb broiler chickens were housed in floor cages for 12 days at the Poultry Research Center. At 12 days of age, birds were placed in grower Petersime batteries and distributed in a completely randomized design with 10 birds per cage, six replicates per treatment, and six treatments. There were six corn-soybean meal-based dietary treatments: non-challenged control (NC), challenged control (CC), 100 ppm Cu (100 Cu), 150 ppm Cu (150 Cu), 80 ppm Zn (80 Zn), and 100 ppm Zn (100 Zn). Broilers received the treatment diets for 9 days (12-20d). Birds, except NC, were challenged with Eimeria maxima (50,000 oocysts/bird), Eimeria tenella (50,000 oocysts/bird), and Eimeria acervulina (250,000 oocysts/bird) on 14d. On 20d, the growth performance was recorded, and one bird/cage was used for analysis of intestinal permeability, antioxidant properties and bone quality. Lesion score was recorded at 20 days of age in eight birds/cage. The means were subjected to ANOVA and, when significant, compared by Duncan's test. Intestinal permeability was significantly improved when birds received the 100 Zn diet (P < 0.05). In addition, lesion scores on duodenum were reduced when broilers received diets 150 Cu as compared to CC diet (P < 0.05). However, growth performance was not positively influenced by inclusion of inorganic minerals as compared to the NC diet. Furthermore, activity of superoxide dismutase and bone quality were not affected, whereas glutathione status was improved with mineral supplementation in all groups. This study showed that Cu and Zn supplementation improves intestinal integrity during the Eimeria spp. infection, suggesting that Cu and Zn supplementation would be a potential strategy to reduce detrimental effects of Eimeria infection in broilers.

The effects of different doses of curcumin compound on growth performance, antioxidant status, and gut health of broiler chickens challenged with Eimeria species

“…The treatment diets were fed from day 12 to the final day of the trial (day 20). For Eimeria doses, each bird in the C group was given an oral gavage of a mixture of 50,000 oocyst/bird of E. maxima , 50,000 oocyst/bird of E. tenella , and 250,000 oocysts/birds of E. acervulina on day 14 using a repeated pipette (Eppendorf Multipette M4, Millipore Sigma, St. Louis, MO), and birds in the NC groups were orally provided with the same amount of phosphate buffer saline ( PBS 1%; Thermo Fischer Scientific, Waltham, MA) ( Santos et al., 2020 ). The chicks were provided feed and water ad libitum throughout the study and kept in controlled environment as per recommendation of Cobb Broiler Management Guide ( Cobb 2018a , b ).…”

“…Coccidiosis caused by genus Eimeria is a serious parasitic disease in the poultry industry because of its high morbidity, mortality, and economic burden associated with it during severe infection ( Pop et al., 2019 ). Worldwide coccidiosis is responsible for annual loss of around $ 2.4 billion in poultry business ( Santos et al., 2020 ). Seven species of Eimeria are involved, of which commonly found and infective are Eimeria maxima , Eimeria tenella , and Eimeria acervulina ( Haug et al., 2008 ; Kim et al., 2011 ).…”

Recent Advances in Understanding the Influence of Zinc, Copper, and Manganese on the Gastrointestinal Environment of Pigs and Poultry

“…The use of Cu in the context of current industry challenges has also been studied. In an Eimeria challenge study, although growth performance was not improved, supplemental copper sulphate at 150 mg/kg reduced broiler chicken duodenal lesion score [ 53 ]. Notably, clear relationships between observed intestinal damage and growth performance are not always apparent [ 54 ].…”

Current experimental models, assessment and dietary modulations of intestinal permeability in broiler chickens

“…In the first category, coccidiosis causative agents like Eimeria maxima, tenella and acervulina were used as a sole agent to increase IP (referred hereafter as the Cocci model) ( dos Santos et al, 2020 ; Goossens et al., 2018 ; Murugesan et al., 2014 ; Teng et al, 2020 ). These models utilized Cobb and Ross birds and showed a significant increment in IP measured by FITC-d ( dos Santos et al, 2020 ), ovotransferrin in feces ( Goossens et al., 2018 ) or TEER in intestinal tissue ( Murugesan et al., 2014 ). In the second category, additional stress or agent was utilized (referred hereafter as the Cocci plus).…”

“…(9) IP reduced by 0.5% glutamine (1) Murugesan et al. (2014) ; (2) Goossens et al., 2018 ; (3) Chadwick et al (2020) ; (4) Teng et al (2020) ; (5) Schneiders et al (2020) (6) dos Santos et al, 2020 ; (7) Pham et al. (2020) ; (8) Song et al.…”