The present study involved in vivo evaluation of the growth promoting effects of thymol and thymol nanoemulsion and their protection against Salmonella Typhimurium infection in broilers. One-day old 2400 chicks were randomly divided into eight groups; negative and positive control groups fed basal diet without additives and thymol and thymol nanoemulsion groups (0.25, 0.5 and 1% each). At d 23, all chicks except negative control were challenged with S. Typhimurium. Over the total growing period, birds fed 1% thymol nanoemulsion showed better growth performance even after S. Typhimurium challenge, which came parallel with upregulation of digestive enzyme genes (AMY2A, PNLIP and CCK). Additionally, higher levels of thymol nanoemulsion upregulated the expression of MUC-2, FABP2, IL-10, IgA and tight junction proteins genes and downregulated IL-2 and IL-6 genes expression. Moreover, 1% thymol nanoemulsion, and to lesser extent 0.5% thymol nanoemulsion and 1% thymol, corrected the histological alterations of cecum and liver postinfection. Finally, supplementation of 1% thymol, 0.5 and 1% thymol nanoemulsion led to increased Lactobacilli counts and decreased S. Typhimurium populations and downregulated invA gene expression postinfection. This first report of supplying thymol nanoemulsion in broiler diets proved that 1% nano-thymol is a potential growth promoting and antibacterial agent.

Typical formulated broiler diets are deficient in n-3 poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) due to widening n-6:n-3 PUFA ratio which could greatly affect performance, immune system of birds and, more importantly, meat quality. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of modifying dietary n-6:n-3 PUFA ratio from plant and animal oil sources on performance, behavior, cytokine mRNA expression, antioxidative status and meat fatty acid profile of broiler chickens. Birds (n = 420) were fed 7 diets enriched with different dietary oil sources and ratios as follows: sunflower oil in control diet (C); fish oil (FO); 1:1 ratio of sunflower oil to FO (C1FO1); 3:1 ratio of sunflower oil to fish oil (C3FO1); linseed oil (LO); 1:1 ratio of sunflower oil to linseed oil (C1LO1); 3:1 ratio of sunflower oil to linseed oil (C3LO1), resulting in dietary n-6:n-3 ratios of approximately 40:1, 1.5:1, 4:1, 8:1, 1:1, 2.5:1 and 5:1, respectively. The best final body weight, feed conversion ratio as well as protein efficiency ratio of broilers were recorded in the C1FO1 and C1LO1 groups. Compared with the control group, the dressing percentage and breast and thigh yield were highest in the C1FO1 and C1LO1 groups. Narrowing the dietary n-6:n-3 ratio increased (P < 0.05) n-3 PUFA content of breast meat. Moreover, the breast meat contents of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid increased (P < 0.05) with increasing dietary FO whereas α-linolenic acid content was higher with LO supplementation. Also, enriching the diets with n-3 PUFA from FO and LO clearly decreased (P < 0.05) serum total cholesterol, triglycerides and very low-density lipoproteins and enhanced antioxidative status. The feeding frequency was decreased (P < 0.05) in the C1FO1 and C1LO1 groups. Likewise, n-3 PUFA-enriched diets enhanced the frequency of preening, wing flapping and flightiness. Animal oil source addition, compared to plant oil, to broiler diets enhanced the relative mRNA expression of interferon gamma, interleukin-1 beta, interleukin-2 and interleukin-6 genes, especially at low n-6:n-3 ratios. This study has clearly shown that narrowing n-6:n-3 ratio through the addition of FO or LO improved performance and immune response of broilers and resulted in healthy chicken meat, enriched with long chain n-3 PUFA.

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. typhimurium) is known for its intracellular survival, evading the robust inflammation and adaptive immune response of the host. The emergence of decreased ciprofloxacin (CIP) susceptibility (DCS) requires a prolonged antibiotic course with increased dosage, leading to threatening, adverse effects. Moreover, antibiotic-resistant bacteria can persist in biofilms, causing serious diseases. Hence, we validated the in vitro and in vivo efficacy of ciprofloxacin-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles (CIP–MSN) using a rat model of salmonella infection to compare the oral efficacy of 5 mg/kg body weight CIP–MSN and a traditional treatment regimen with 10 mg/kg CIP postinfection. Our results revealed that mesoporous silica particles can regulate the release rate of CIP with an MIC of 0.03125 mg/L against DCS S. typhimurium with a greater than 50% reduction of biofilm formation without significantly affecting the viable cells residing within the biofilm, and a sub-inhibitory concentration of CIP–MSN significantly reduced invA and FimA gene expressions. Furthermore, oral supplementation of CIP–MSN had an insignificant effect on all blood parameter values as well as on liver and kidney function parameters. MPO and NO activities that are key mediators of oxidative stress were abolished by CIP–MSN supplementation. Additionally, CIP–MSN supplementation has a promising role in attenuating the elevated secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in serum from S. typhimurium-infected rats with a reduction in pro-apoptotic gene expression, resulting in reduced S. typhimurium-induced hepatic apoptosis. This counteracted the negative effects of the S. typhimurium challenge, as seen in a corrected histopathological picture of both the intestine and liver, along with increased bacterial clearance. We concluded that, compared with a normal ciprofloxacin treatment regime, MSN particles loaded with a half-dose of ciprofloxacin exhibited controlled release of the antibiotic, which can prolong the antibacterial effect.

Promising therapy is needed for treating inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) to overcome current treatment that inefficient and associated with unnecessary health risks. Recently, the concept of incorporating natural products into nanocarriers has been intended as a promising therapy for treating IBD via modulating their stability and bioavailability. Thus, we aimed to explore the potential alleviating effects of dietary nano-supplement combined with bacillus strains (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens; BANPs) in colitis model. Rats were orally gavaged by 5% DSS and the efficacy and mechanistic actions of BANPs were evaluated by assessing the severity of clinical signs and inflammatory and apoptosis response, histopathological and immunohistochemistry examination in colonic tissues. The severity of clinical signs was successfully alleviated and fecal Lcn-2 levels, an important colitic marker, were decreased in BANPs then free BA treated groups. In contrast, inflammatory markers overexpression IL-6, IL-1β, TNFα, COX-2, and iNOS in the colitic group were reduced more prominently in BANPs treated group, unlike free BA. The amelioration of BANPs to colon injury was also correlated with oxidative stress suppression along with restoring total antioxidant capacity. Interestingly, BANPs treatment modulated apoptotic markers as proved by downregulation of cytochrome c, and caspase-3 and upregulation of Bcl-2 and Bax than free BA. The severity of the histopathological alterations in the colon was greatly reduced in BANPs than free BA groups. Remarkably, over-expression of ki67 and IL-6 in colonic tissues were suppressed in BANPs group. These findings together highlighted the beneficial efficacy of BANPs in IBD treatment which are evidenced by colonic inflammation alleviation. Taken together, these results recommend that BANPs is a promising agent that encourages its possible therapeutic role in colitis treatment.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate mannan oligosaccharides (MOS) or glycerol (GLY) as a carbon source on biofloc systems of Nile tilapia (O. niloticus) juveniles. Fish (n = 750) were reared in open flow (Controls) or biofloc systems (B-GLY and B-MOS) fed with a plant or fish protein source over a period of twelve weeks. Total ammonia nitrogen and nitrate decreased in the biofloc groups, while biofloc volume increased in B-MOS. Compared to the controls, B-MOS and B-GLY exhibited higher weight gain and improved feed conversion, irrespectively of the diet. Serum level of C-reactive protein was reduced, while IgM and lysozyme activity was higher in the B-MOS fish, compared to other groups. Intestinal Bacillus spp. count was increased, whereas Vibrio, Aeromonas and Pseudomonas spp. counts decreased in B-MOS reared groups, compared to the other groups. The proinflammatory cytokine (IL-8 and IFN-γ) transcript expression was upregulated in B-MOS more than B-GLY reared groups. Compared to the controls, the virulence of Aeromonas hydrophila was decreased in the B-MOS and B-GLY groups. The results indicate several benefits of using MOS as a carbon source in a biofloc Nile tilapia system; a cost benefit analysis is required to assess the economic viability of this.