The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect of glutamine (Gln) on the intestinal morphology, intestinal inflammatory response, and

The objective of this study was to compare the effects of Aspergillus niger-fermented pine needles and nonfermented pine needles on growth performanc

The effects of dietary supplementation of oridonin (ORI) on growth performance, cecal microbiota, epithelium development and antioxidant and immune parameters of broilers infected with S. pullorum were studied. A total of 300 1-d-old male chicks were selected and divided into 5 trial groups (6 replicates of 10 chickens): 1) nonchallenge control chicks (CON), 2) chicks treated with Salmonella Challenged Control (SCC), 3) chicks treated with S. pullorum challenge and 50 mg/kg ORI (O1), 4) chicks treated with S. pullorum challenge and 80 mg/kg ORI (O2), and 5) chicks treated with S. pullorum challenge and 100 mg/kg ORI (O3). The results showed that S. pullorum had no effect on the feed intake (FI), body weight gain (BWG) or feed conversion ratio (FCR) of broilers compared with the values measured for the CON group (P > 0.05). However, compared with the characteristics of CON, S. pullorum showed effects on the counts of Salmonella and Lactobacillus at 7 d and at 14 d (P < 0.05), on jejunal development at 7 d (P < 0.05), and on jejunal immunoglobulin A (IgA) concentration at 7 d (P < 0.05). The addition of 100 mg/kg ORI had the greatest effect on the counts of Lactobacillus and Salmonella in cecal content (P < 0.05), malonaldehyde (MDA) content in the jejunum (P < 0.05), villi height of the small intestine, and IgA concentrations in the jejunum (P < 0.05). The results suggest that ORI can improve Salmonella-induced immune responses and protect intestinal health, not only through its immune inhibitory properties but also through its multi-protective effects on gut health.

A 2 × 4 factorial arrangement of treatments was used to investigate the protective effect of procyanidin (PCA) against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute gut injury by the regulations of oxidative state for a 21-days feeding trial. A total of 384 1-days-old broiler chicks were assigned to 8 treatments with 8 replicate of 6 broiler chickens per pen. Broiler chickens fed diets based on 4 levels of dietary PCA (0, 0.05, 0.075 and 0.1 % of the requirements). Half of the birds from each treatment group were challenged with 0.9 % NaCl solution or LPS (250 μg/kg body weight, injection administered) at 16, 18 and 21 days of age. The results indicated that, prior to LPS challenge, there was no dietary effect on bird growth performance (P > 0.05). The injection of LPS were also not associated with any significant changes in poultry performance (P > 0.05). But LPS injection increased serum diamine oxidase (DAO) level and the malondialdehyde (MDA) content of intestinal mucosa (P < 0.05), cause adverse effects to the morphology of the small intestine (P < 0.05), decreased the glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity of intestinal mucosa (P < 0.05). When LPS-challenged birds were pretreated with PCA, serum DAO concentration and MDA activity in jejunal and ileal mucosa were dramatically attenuated, and improved the morphology of the small intestine as well (P < 0.05). In conclusion, PCA is able to prevent LPS-induced oxidative stress response in vivo, improved the morphology of the small intestine. The beneficial effect of PCA may depend on increasing the activity of body’s antioxidant enzymes and scavenging free radical activity.