The Effect of a<i> Lactobacillus</i>-Based Probiotic for the Control of Necrotic Enteritis in Broilers

Abstract

Necrotic Enteritis (NE) caused by Clostridium perfringens (CP) in poultry is probably the most important bacterial disease in terms of economic implications. The disease is multi-factorial and is invariably associated with predisposing factors. The present study investigated the effect of a commercially available Lactobacillus-based probiotic (FM-B11) for the control of necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens. In experiment 1, one-day-of-hatch broiler chicks were randomly allocated to the following treatment groups: 1) Non-challenged (NC); 2) Challenged (C); 3) Challenged + probiotic (C+ FM-B11). Prior to placement, chicks in groups 2 and 3 received 0.25 mL of Salmonella typhimurium (ST) containing 10 5 cfu of viable cells by oral gavage. At 14, 15 and 16 days of age, all chicks in group 3 were treated with FM-B11 in the drinking water at a concentration of 10 6 cfu/ml. At 21d of age, all chicks in groups 2 and 3, were individually challenged with 5 × 10 4 sporulated oocysts of E. maxima by oral gavage. At 26d of age, all chicks in groups 2 and 3, were individually challenged with 10 8 cfu CP; body weight (BW) was recorded prior to challenge. The experiment was terminated at 29 days of age and the following parameters were evaluated: NE-associated mortality, CP lesion scores, CP concentrations in ileum, BW, and body weight gain (BWG). Chicks treated with FM-B11 had significantly (P < 0.05) higher body weight gain after challenge when compared to control challenge chickens. Total mortality was higher in the C group (48.8%) when compared to the C + FM-B11 (12.7%). Even though there was no significant (P > 0.05) difference in lesion score between C and C + FM-B11, group C + FM-B11 had significantly (P < 0.05) lower total number of cfu of CP recovered from the ileal mucosa and content samples when compared to group C. Experiment 2 was a unique and remarkable case report of a field outbreak of NE in a commercial broiler farm in Argentina. A reduction and control of the mortality associated with NE following 3 days of administration of FM-B11 was observed as compared with the control non treated house. These results imply that the commercially available Lactobacillus-based probiotic FM-B11 was able to reduce the severities of NE, as a secondary bacterial infection, in an experimental NE challenge model; as well as, in a commercial field outbreak of NE.

Alternatives to Antibiotics to Prevent Necrotic Enteritis in Broiler Chickens: A Microbiologist's Perspective

“…This strain was able persist in the chicks for the duration of the experiment, caused a reduced colonization by C. perfringens after 15 days, although no direct anti- C. perfringens activity was evident in vitro (La Ragione et al, 2004 ). Layton and colleagues tested the efficacy of the probiotic FloraMax-B11 (FM-B11), which consists of several LAB strains (Table 1 ) on chicks challenged with E. maxima, S. typhimurium and C. perfringens (Layton et al, 2013 ). The chicks started receiving the probiotic on day 14 and were infected 7 days later.…”

“…After 10 days, they observed a high reduction of mortality in the group treated with FM-B11, along with reduced intestinal lesions and C. perfringens counts. Furthermore, FM-B11 was shown to be active against C. perfringens in vitro (Layton et al, 2013 ). Allaart et al ( 2011 ) described an example of an antagonistic action that targeted pathogenicity via the inhibition of toxin production.…”

Probiotics mitigating subclinical necrotic enteritis (SNE) as potential alternatives to antibiotics in poultry

“…In poultry, yeast as a probiotic has more effect of improving the performance of birds. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, obtained from intestine of poultry, functions as an effective probiotic for prevention of NE (Layton et al 2013). Priya and Babu (2013) showed that Saccharomyces cerevisiae supplementation had a positive effect on the morphology of intestine.…”

Necrotic enteritis predisposing factors in broiler chickens

“…Many studies have demonstrated that potentially probiotic strains of bacteria and competitive exclusion cultures reduce the incidence of NE (e.g. Elwinger et al, 1992;La Ragione et al, 2004;Layton et al, 2013;Tactacan et al, 2013). These microbial interactions are protective rather than predisposing but there are examples of bacterial infections that have been found to predispose to greater NE development; for example, early infection with a Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium isolate increased NE-related mortality and lesion scores, perhaps resulting from a change in host immune response (Shivaramaiah et al, 2011).…”