Prebiotics and the poultry gastrointestinal tract microbiome

Abstract

Feed additives that can modulate the poultry gastrointestinal tract and provide benefit to bird performance and health have recently received more interest for commercial applications. Such feed supplements offer an economic advantage because they may directly benefit poultry producers by either decreasing mortality rates of farm animals, increasing bird growth rates, or improve feed efficieny. They can also limit foodborne pathogen establishment in bird flocks by modifying the gastrointestinal microbial population. Prebiotics are known as non-digestible carbohydrates that selectively stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria, thus improving the overall health of the host. Once prebiotics are introduced to the host, 2 major modes of action can potentially occur. Initially, the corresponding prebiotic reaches the intestine of the chicken without being digested in the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract but are selectively utilized by certain bacteria considered beneficial to the host. Secondly, other gut activities occur due to the presence of the prebiotic, including generation of short-chain fatty acids and lactic acid as microbial fermentation products, a decreased rate of pathogen colonization, and potential bird health benefits. In the current review, the effect of prebiotics on the gastrointestinal tract microbiome will be discussed as well as future directions for further research.

Impact of Housing Environment on the Immune System in Chickens: A Review

“…Thus, selective breeding presents an interesting, complementary possibility to increase vaccine efficacy and disease resistance by using heritable traits like the concentration of natural antibodies [ 209 ]. Moreover, there is an impact of the genetic background on gut microbiota composition [ 210 , 211 ] that is clearly associated with host stress response and a mediator of host health. Even though the gut microbiota of chickens has received much attention in recent years and was demonstrated to be influenced by housing environment [ 98 , 210 , 212 ], there is still a lack of information on how the microbiota interacts with the host immune system.…”

“…Moreover, there is an impact of the genetic background on gut microbiota composition [ 210 , 211 ] that is clearly associated with host stress response and a mediator of host health. Even though the gut microbiota of chickens has received much attention in recent years and was demonstrated to be influenced by housing environment [ 98 , 210 , 212 ], there is still a lack of information on how the microbiota interacts with the host immune system. Nevertheless, the high plasticity of the avian microbiome offers a good basis to intentionally manipulate the microbiota by nutrition or housing condition to improve intestinal barrier function and host immunity [ 213 ].…”

Clostridium perfringens as Foodborne Pathogen in Broiler Production: Pathophysiology and Potential Strategies for Controlling Necrotic Enteritis

“…The use of prebiotics in poultry production systems is based on the fact that they are able to improve the intestinal epithelium (longer villi and shallower crypts) [ 124 ] and feed conversion and efficiency [ 125 ] through the synthesis of metabolites from their fermentation, such as short-chain fatty acids [ 126 ], mainly acetate, propionate, and butyrate, which are absorbed directly from the hindgut and used as an energy source in tissues [ 127 ], which in turn promote weight gain and performance [ 125 ].…”

“…Moreover, they improve the mineral absorption, specially Ca and P, when administered at a rate of 10 g/kg of feed, which in turn impacts bone mineralization in broilers [ 120 ], promoting a symbiosis in the intestinal microbiota, increase intestinal colonization of lactic acid bacteria and are capable of inhibiting intestinal colonization of pathogens, thereby restricting the amount of toxic metabolites generated by them (ammonia, indoles, phenols, and thiols) [ 128 ]. They also reduce the intensity and time of histopathological conditions caused by C. perfringens in the jejunum and duodenum [ 124 , 126 ].…”

Regulating Gut Microbiome: Therapeutic Strategy for Rheumatoid Arthritis During Pregnancy and Lactation

“…Prebiotics is an indigestible food ingredient that selectively stimulates the growth and activity of probiotics in the intestine, thereby improving host health (Naseer et al, 2020;Ricke et al, 2020). It is currently defined as "a substrate that is selectively utilized by host microorganisms endowed with health benefits," and its "selectivity" mainly refers to Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium (da Silva et al, 2020).…”