Dietary supplementation with ovine serum immunoglobulin attenuates acute effects on growth, organ weights, gut morphology and intestinal mucin production in the growing rat challenged with Salmonella enteritidis

Spray-dried porcine plasma enhances feed efficiency, intestinal integrity, and immune response of broilers challenged with necrotic enteritis

Re-emergence of enteric diseases in the postantibiotic era has imposed severe loss to the poultry industry leading to the urgent need for appropriate additives to maintain gut health. Recently, more attention has been paid to animal plasma due to its high concentrations of active components such as albumins and globulins. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of spray-dried porcine plasma (SDP) supplementation during the starter phase (d 0-10) on growth performance, intestine health, and immune response of broilers under necrotic enteritis (NE) challenge. A total of 720 day-old male broiler parental line chicks (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to a 2 (NE challenge: no, yes) × 2 (SDP: 0, 2%) factorial arrangement with 12 replications of 15 chicks each. To induce NE, birds were inoculated with live Eimeria vaccine on d 9 and Clostridium perfringens on d 14. The body weight of birds and feed consumption were measured per pen on d 8, 10, 24, and 29 to calculate performance parameters. On d 16, three birds per pen were sampled to analyse the intestinal lesion score, gut permeability, villi morphology, relative weight of organs, and immune response. Results showed that SDP improved (P < 0.001) FCR in the pre-challenge phase (d 0-8). The results indicated that supplementing SDP lowered (P < 0.01) FCR at the end of the experiment (d 29). Dietary SDP decreased (P < 0.05) the concentration of FITC-d in serum samples of challenged broilers, although it did not affect the intestinal morphology and lesion score. Birds fed with SDP had a higher (P < 0.05) relative weight of bursa (g/kg live body weight) compared to non-supplemented birds. Supplementing SDP reduced the concentration of interleukin-6 (P < 0.05) and α-1 acid glycoprotein (P = 0.051) in serum samples of broilers. In conclusion, supplementation of SDP in the starter phase enhanced feed efficiency and gut integrity in NE challenged broilers, possibly through manipulating the immune response, while further studies targeting intestinal microflora and key genes are required to explore the mode of action.

Orally administered ovine serum immunoglobulins modulate dental plaque in cats

The effects of orally administered ovine serum immunoglobulin on dental plaque and associated oral immunity in cats were investigated. The two treatment groups consisted of 1) cats that were fed unsupplemented kibble (control diet) and 2) cats that were fed the same kibble but coated with a freeze-dried ovine serum immunoglobulin preparation (ovine Ig) (test diet). The adult cats were randomly allocated to one of the two diets (n = 15) and received their respective kibble for a 28-day experimental period. When compared to the ovine Ig-supplemented kibble, cats consuming the unsupplemented kibble had significantly (p < 0.05) higher dental plaque scores. Cat IgA and IgG concentrations in the saliva and serum were significantly (p < 0.05) higher for cats fed the unsupplemented kibble when compared to cats receiving the ovine Ig supplement. Similarly, myeloperoxidase activity in the saliva was significantly (p < 0.05) higher for cats fed the unsupplemented kibble when compared to cats receiving the Ig-supplement. Orally administered ovine serum Ig positively influenced oral health and oral immunity in cats as evidenced by preventing an increase of dental plaque formation, salivary and serum IgA and IgG concentrations and salivary myeloperoxidase activity.

Effects of spray-dried animal plasma on the growth performance of weaned piglets-A review

Spray-dried animal plasma sourced from bovine, porcine or other animal origin is often used as a main feed ingredient in the diets of weanling piglets to improve growth performance. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of animal plasma in diets on the performance of piglets in the post-weaning period, with and/or without pathogenic challenge, by undertaking a meta-analysis. Data were extracted from peer-reviewed reports published in scientific journals. The average initial weight of the piglets was 5.8 kg and the average initial age 19 days (2-56 days). The average duration of feeding animal plasma was 40 days. Average daily gain (ADG), feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were found to be 22-28 g/day, 20-27 g/day and -0.28 to 0.06 g/g. Generally, diet supplemented with spray-dried bovine plasma (SDBP) improved the ADG of the piglets and spray-dried porcine plasma (SDPP) led to increases in the ADFI. For the first week post-weaning alone, as the dietary animal plasma percentage increased there was an increase in ADG and ADFI; similarly, the latter two measures increased as weaning age increased. The evidence suggests that mainly IgG present in animal plasma prevents the binding of pathogens to the gut wall and reduces the incidence of sub-clinical infection in the post-weaning stage. Animal plasma containing IgG appears to be a useful in-feed supplement for piglets in the post-weaning phase.

Impact of oral immunoglobulins on animal health-A review

Immunoglobulin (Ig) is the one of the main anti-infective components of blood, colostrum and breast milk. It is the unique glycoprotein that defends the body from harmful bacteria, viruses and other environmental pathogens by either binding to them or by forming an encapsulating barrier. The expansion of antimicrobial and immunomodulatory products from natural sources for dietary supplementation in both animals and humans is an ever growing and thriving area of research. Purified Ig from sheep serum (ovine serum Ig) is one such candidate product. Recent work has shown the various biological effects of oral Ig in different animal models including its effect on growth, immunity, intestinal growth and gut barrier function. The objective of this paper is to review the results of recent studies demonstrating the effects of oral Ig in both pathogenic and non-pathogenic animal models and to suggest a possible mechanism of its action. Overall, purified oral Ig improves growth of healthy (and challenged) rats and defends against enteric infection by immunomodulation, mucin protein and/or modification of commensal microbial composition. The findings contribute to knowledge of how orally administered ovine Ig can influence and enhance key indicators of gut function and overall growth performance in an animal model.

Recovery of intact IgG in the gastrointestinal tract of the growing rat following ingestion of an ovine serum immunoglobulin

The aim of this study was to determine whether orally ingested ovine serum IgG partly resists digestion in the growing rat. Fifteen Sprague-Dawley male rats were allocated to one of three diets for a 3-week study: a control diet (CON) and two test diets containing either freeze-dried ovine serum immunoglobulin (FDOI) or inactivated ovine serum immunoglobulin (IOI). Samples of stomach chyme and intestinal digesta from the ad libitum-fed rats were subjected to ELISA and Western blot analysis. Amounts of intact ovine IgG for the FDOI diet were found to be 13.9, 20.0, 34.1, 13.0 and 36.9 μg in the total wet digesta from the stomach chyme, duodenal, jejunal, ileal and colonic digesta respectively. Qualitative detection by Western blot revealed the presence of intact ovine serum IgG with a ~150 kDa MW. This was detected in all of the gut segments (stomach chyme, duodenal, jejunal, ileal and colonic digesta) for growing rats fed the FDOI diet. No ovine IgG was detected in the chyme or digesta from rats fed the CON or the IOI diets. Ovine serum IgG partly resisted digestion in the growing rat fed the FDOI diet and was found throughout the digestive tract. These results provide a basis to explain the reported biological effects of orally administered immunoglobulin.

Intact but not denatured ovine serum immunoglobulins positively modulate mucosal immune mediators in the growing rat challenged with Salmonella enteritidis

Immunoglobulins are major glycoproteins that modulate the immune response of gut-associated lymphoid tissue. In the present study, we sought to determine whether orally administered ovine serum immunoglobulins modulate selected indices of mucosal immune function and immune mediators in the growing rat challenged with Salmonella enteritidis. Rats were fed a casein-based basal control diet (BD; unchallenged). Three groups of rats were challenged orally with 1 × 107 viable S. enteritidis on day 15 of the study and were fed the BD, the BD containing freeze-dried ovine immunoglobulins (FDOI), or the BD containing autoclaved ovine immunoglobulins (AOI; negative control diet). The rats were randomly allocated to one of the four groups (n 15) and consumed their diet for 18 d. In all of the intestinal segments, the challenged rats fed either the BD or AOI diet produced higher (P< 0·05) mucosal levels of interferon-γ, TNFα, IgA and myeloperoxidase activity than the challenged rats fed the FDOI diet. In contrast, IL-4 and IL-10 levels were higher in the challenged FDOI-fed rats compared with the other challenged groups. The challenged FDOI-fed rats had higher (P< 0·05) mucosal anti-Salmonella IgA and IgG in all of the intestinal segments except the jejunum and ileum. Generally, the challenged rats receiving the FDOI diet had significantly (P< 0·05) higher mucosal mucin protein content compared with challenged rats receiving either the BD or AOI diet. In conclusion, an ovine immunoglobulin fraction positively modulated some selected indices of mucosal immune function and its mediators in growing rats challenged with S. enteritidis.