Rehearsal For Thesis Presentation

Necrotic enteritis (NE) is a severe intestinal infection that affects broilers growth performance and causes economic losses. NE is mainly caused by Clostridium perfringens (Cp) over-propagation and resultant toxin production. Antibiotic are commonly used to control gut health and promote growth performance in animal production, whereas bans of antibiotic use are on the road worldwide, and so developing natural alternatives are crucial. Probiotics possess   regulatory functions in intestinal microbiota and immunomodulation to maintain intestinal integrity. Bacillus subtilis (BS) of this study has been validate to secrete bacteriocin, fengycin, and surfacing to inhibit Cp proliferation. Nature silicate platelets (NSP) from the exfoliation of natural montmorillonite merit high surface areas and ion charges to adhere onto the surface of microorganisms and thereby anti-bacterial and antivirus effects, so that it can be used as a nature feed additive. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the effect NSP in compounding with BS on growth performance and gut health of broiler chickens under Cp infection. Totally, 224 day-old broiler chickens (Ross308) were randomly allocated to seven groups with four replicates and 8 birds per replicate for the 35-day feeding trial; basal diet group (CON), basal diet with Cp challenge group (Cp at day 18 and 20), and five Cp challenge groups with 0.1% NSP, 0.1% BS, or 3 levels of NSP+BS in 0.1% (1:1, 1:5, and 1:10; NBL, NBM, and NBH). At day 27, birds were gavaged with 1 ml of FITC-d for gut permeability analysis. At 28 day, chickens were necropsied for sample collection for intestinal lesion tight junction protein, anti-microbial peptide, and histological analysis. In contrast to CON, CP group had significantly lower final body weight and feed intake, while NSP+BS treatment improved body weight gain. Cp infection significantly decreased the villus height and ratio of villus height to crypt depth in the duodenum while all supplemental groups have differential improvements. CP group had higher intestinal lesion scores and permeability than other groups; NBM group had the lowest lesion score and permeability. NSP+BS also exhibited increased intestinal mucin-2, and cathelicidin-3 expressions, and upregulated avian β-defensin 1and 8 expression. NBH group showed higher claudin-1 expression than NSP and BS group. In conclusion, the combination of NSP and probiotics can achieve synergistic effects on enhancing growth performance and gut health.
 
Keywords: broilers, necrotic enteritis, nature silicate platelets, probiotics, gut health

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