Effects of essential oil mixtures on expression of genes involved in lipogenesis and fatty acid oxidation in geese (Anser anser).

The use of essential oils has recently increased in the poultry sector. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of essential oil mixture (juniper, mint, oregano and rosemary oil) on fatty acid oxidation and lipogenic gene expression in geese. Research groups were formed as C (control; no additives), EK1 (0.4 ml/l essential oil mixture supplemented) and EK2 (0.8 ml/l essential oil mixture supplemented). Relative expression levels of genes included in lipogenesis (ACCα, ChREBP, FASN, LXRα and SREBP-1) expression levels of genes included in fatty acid oxidation (ACOX1, CPT1, CPT1A, PPARα and PPARγ) were measured using RT-qPCR. Group EK1 upregulates the mRNA expression levels of genes involved in lipogenesis such as ACCα, ChREBP and SREBP-1, while it downregulates the mRNA expression in levels of all genes involved in fatty acid oxidation. Group EK2 increases the mRNA expression levels of genes involved in lipogenesis such as ACCα, FASN and SREBP-1, while it decreased mRNA expression at the levels of all genes involved in fatty acid oxidation, as in the other group. In the study, adding an essential oil mixture to drinking water is predicted to increase fatty liver because it upregulates genes related to fat synthesis (lipogenesis) and downregulates genes related to fat degradation (fatty acid oxidation).

Performance and gut health status of broilers fed diets supplemented with two graded levels of a monoglyceride blend.

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of 2 graded levels (0.03 and 0.05% of diet) of a monoglyceride blend containing butyric, caprylic, and capric acids in broilers' diet for optimizing gut structure and animal growth performance. For this purpose, a total of 210, one-day-old male Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly allocated to 3 experimental treatments using 7 replicates each and 10 birds/replicate. The treatment groups involved supplementation of blend of short and medium chain fatty acids at the level of 0, 0.03, and 0.05% of the diet for 42 d. The incorporation of mixes of monoglycerides into broilers' diet linearly improved BWG between d 0 and 21 (P = 0.034). At the end of trial, however, no significant changes were observed in performance indexes (BWG, FI, FCR). Jejunal morphometric parameters (villus height, crypt depth, and their ratio) remained unaltered with the monoglyceride supplementation on d 21. The results further showed that monoglycerides supplementation increased the goblet cell counts along the jejunal villi (P = 0.034) and crypt regions (P = 0.022), as well as it effectively modulated the mRNA abundances of tight junction protein (ZO-1, P = 0.033) and nutrient transporters (SGLT, PePT1; P = 0.005, 0.023, respectively) in the jejunum. Moreover, the downregulation in mRNA abundance of TNFα (P = 0.030) was observed with the monoglyceride supplementation. The SCFAs analysis of cecal contents showed no notable differences with monoglyceride blend supplementation when compared to the unsupplemented group. Collectively, high goblet cell numbers in the jejunum along with downregulation of the mRNA abundances of pro-inflammatory cytokines, upregulation of tight junction proteins, and nutrient transporters showed favorable responses of low doses of monoglycerides blend in broiler feeding. Further studies should be conducted in different rearing conditions to examine the effectiveness of such low levels of a monoglyceride blend in the modulation of gut structure, its functionality and animal performance.

Effects of Paenibacillus xylanexedens on growth performance, intestinal histomorphology, intestinal microflora, and immune response in broiler chickens challenged with Escherichia coli K88.

This study investigated the effects of dietary Paenibacillus xylanexedens ysm1 supplementation on growth performance, intestinal morphology, immune response, and cecal microbiota of broiler chickens challenged with Escherichia coli K88. A total of 320 one-day-old male broiler chicks were randomly allocated to 4 treatments (8 floor pens, 10 birds/pen) including 1) negative control (NC) birds fed a basal diet and not challenged with E. coli K88; 2) positive control (PC) birds fed a basal diet and challenged with of E. coli K88; 3) P. xylanexedens ysm1 treatment (PRO) birds fed a basal diet supplemented with 1 × 109P. xylanexedens ysm1 cfu/kg feed and challenged with E. coli K88; and 4) antibiotic treatment (ANT) birds fed a basal diet supplemented with 20 mg of colistin sulphate/kg of feed and challenged with E. coli K88. The E. coli challenge decreased (P < 0.05) BWG in PC birds compared with the ANT birds on days 21 and 28. The FCR was higher (P < 0.01) in PC birds compared with the NC, PRO, and ANT birds on days 14, 21, and 28. Compared with the NC, PRO, and ANT birds on day 28, PC birds had shorter villi and higher number of goblet cells in both jejunum and ileum (P < 0.001). Irrespective of the dietary treatments, the E. coli challenge reduced the number of PCNA-positive cells in both the jejunum and ileum on day 28. Paenibacillus xylanexedens ysm1 treatment resulted in higher concentration of mucosal sIgA in the jejunum as compared to the other treatment groups on days 14 and 28. The numbers of cecal E. coli were reduced (P = 0.017) in broilers treated with P. xylanexedens ysm1 or antibiotic in comparison with the PC group on day 28. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that dietary supplementation of this new probiotic bacteria P. xylanexedens ysm1 improved broiler performance by modulating intestinal morphology, enhancing immune response, and reducing the number of E. coli in the cecum.

The effect of intra-amniotic and posthatch dietary synbiotic administration on the performance, intestinal histomorphology, cecal microbial population, and short-chain fatty acid composition of broiler chickens.

This study evaluated the effect of intra-amniotic synbiotic inclusion and continued synbiotic supplementation in the diet on the performance, intestinal epithelium integrity, and cecal microflora of broiler chickens. In Experiment 1, 510 eggs containing viable embryos were divided into 3 groups of 170 eggs each. The first group was not injected and served as a negative control ( NC: ). The next group was injected with 0.9% NaCl and was the positive control ( PC: ). The synbiotic-injected group ( S: ) was injected with a 0.5% inulin and 1 × 106 Enterococcus faecium solution. The non-injected and synbiotic injected groups were further divided into 2 sets for Experiment 2 and the birds were offered either a basal or synbiotic supplemented diet (1% inulin and 2 × 109 E. faecium cfu/kg feed). One hundred ninety-six broiler hatchlings were randomly allocated in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement that included an intra-amniotic treatment (non-injected or synbiotic injected) and a dietary treatment (basal or synbiotic supplemented diet). The results showed that the administration of an intra-amniotic synbiotic to embryonated eggs on d 17 of incubation did not affect the hatchability or hatching weight of the birds. However, intra-amniotic synbiotic inclusion had a positive effect on FCR at d 0 to 42 (P = 0.041) and d 22 to 42 (P = 0.036). There was no significant interaction effect on the growth performance of the birds between the intra-amniotic and dietary synbiotic treatment during different or entire experimental periods. Villus height and goblet and proliferating cell nuclear antigen ( PCNA: ) positive cell counts were positively influenced by intra-amniotic and dietary synbiotic treatments. Our results also indicated that intra-amniotic synbiotic injection followed by dietary supplementation with a synbiotic significantly increased Lactobacillus colonization and decreased coliform population in the broiler cecum. Cecal butyric acid concentration increased proportionally to the cecal Lactobacillus count with dietary synbiotic supplementation on d 42. In summary, combined intra-amniotic and dietary synbiotic treatments improved broiler intestinal integrity and increased cecal beneficial bacteria populations.

The effect of glucose treatment on ruminal dry matter and crude protein degradability characteristics of soybean meal, full fat soybean and soybean seed.

A high ruminal protein degradation is especially undesirable in high producing dairy cows and beef cattle, since these animals have high requirements of protein and the amount of protein that is not degraded by ruminal microorganisms and therefore enters the small intestine (so-called UDP = undegraded protein) is crucial. In this study, Merino rams with ruminal fistulas were used (n = 4) to determine the effect of glucose treatment of soybean meal (SBM), full fat soybean (FFSB) and soybean seed (SBS) on the ruminal degradability of dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP). All these feedstuffs were grinded, diluted with water and heated (2 h; 100 degrees C) either without or with supplementation of 2 or 3% glucose (20 or 30 g glucose per kg dry feed). For the determination of the ruminal degradability nylon bag technique was used (incubation times: 2-48 h). In general ruminal degradability of protein in all three soy products was reduced by glucose treatment. In FFSB CP disappearance started to decrease after 8 h of incubation, whereas in SBM (+ 3% glucose) and SBS (+ 2 or 3% glucose) reduction of CP disappearance were time-independent. Further, effective degradability (Pe) of DM and CP of all feedstuffs were significantly reduced by glucose treatment, with the reduction being more pronounced when the glucose level was increased. When adding 3% of glucose, the Pe for CP was reduced by 6 (FFSB), 16 (SBM) and 18% (SBS), respectively. Explanation for the observed effects of a glucose supplementation (incl. water and heat treatment) is the reductive activity of glucose within these conditions.