Assessment of a Nutritional Rehabilitation Model in Two Modern Broilers and Their Jungle Fowl Ancestor: A Model for Better Understanding Childhood Undernutrition

Structural Changes in Trabecular Bone, Cortical Bone and Hyaline Cartilage as Well as Disturbances in Bone Metabolism and Mineralization in an Animal Model of Secondary Osteoporosis in Clostridium perfringens Infection

There is no information regarding whether changes in the microbiological balance of the gastrointestinal tract as a result of an infection with Clostridium perfringens influence the development of metabolic bone disorders. The experiment was carried out on male broiler chickens divided into two groups: control (n = 10) and experimental (n = 10). The experimental animals were infected with Clostridium perfringens between 17 and 20 days of age. The animals were euthanized at 42 days of age. The structural parameters of the trabecular bone, cortical bone, and hyaline cartilage as well as the mineralization of the bone were determined. The metabolism of the skeletal system was assessed by determining the levels of bone turnover markers, hormones, and minerals in the blood serum. The results confirm that the disturbed composition of the gastrointestinal microflora has an impact on the mineralization and metabolism of bone tissue, leading to the structural changes in cortical bone, trabecular bone, and hyaline cartilage. On the basis of the obtained results, it can be concluded that changes in the microenvironment of the gastrointestinal tract by infection with C. perfringens may have an impact on the earlier development of osteoporosis.

The Evaluation of UPro as a New Nutrient on High-Quality Egg Production From the Perspective of Egg Properties, Intestinal Histomorphology, and Oviduct Function of Laying Hens

This study was to investigate the effects of UPro as a new nutritive fortifier on high-quality egg production from the perspective of egg properties, intestinal histomorphology, and oviduct function of laying hens. Four hundred thirty-two Hy-Line Brown laying hens aged 56 weeks were allocated to four groups. Layers were given a basal diet or supplemented with different levels of small peptides (0.2, 0.4, and 0.8%) to replace soybean meal. After 1-week adaptation period, the feeding trial was conducted for 12 weeks. The results showed that UPro addition significantly decreased (P < 0.05) the hardness, stickiness, and chewiness of albumen of layers on weeks 12. A linear elevation (P < 0.05) in the albumen height, Haugh unit (HU), and crude protein content of albumen of layers were noted on week 12 along with dietary UPro addition increasing, and the villus height (VH) and villus height-to-crypt depth radio (VCR) of jejunum also linearly increasing (P < 0.05). In addition, there were linear elevations (P < 0.05) in the relative mRNA expression of Sec23 homolog A (Sec23A) and protein-O-mannosyltransferase1 (POMT1) in layers as dietary UPro addition increased. In conclusion, dietary UPro addition could improve intestinal health, increase the absorption of nutrients, and improve egg quality of laying hens. The possible mechanism underlying UPro improving the quality and processing characteristics of albumen is up-regulating Sec23A and POMT1 expression of magnum. These findings will promote the application of UPro as a new nutritional additive in the production of high-quality eggs.

Evaluation of Intestinal Permeability and Liver Bacterial Translocation in Two Modern Broilers and Their Jungle Fowl Ancestor

The objective of this study was to evaluate the of intestinal permeability and liver bacterial translocation (BT) across a modern commercial broiler, a commercial broiler of 1995 genetics, and an unselected Jungle Fowl line. Modern 2015 (MB2015) broiler chicken, random bred line initiated from 1995 (RB1995), and the Giant Jungle fowl (JF). Chickens were randomly allocated to four different dietary treatments. Dietary treatments were (1) a control corn-based diet throughout the trial [corn-corn (C-C)]; (2) an early phase malnutrition diet where chicks received a rye-based diet for 10 days, and then switched to the control diet [rye-corn (R-C)]; (3) a malnutrition rye-diet that was fed throughout the trial [rye-rye (R-R)]; and (4) a late phase malnutrition diet where chicks received the control diet for 10 days, and then switched to the rye diet for the last phase [corn-rye (C-R)]. Paracellular permeability was evaluated using fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran (FITC-D). Liver BT was also evaluated. MB2015 and RB1995 consuming the rye-based diet showed increase serum levels of FITC-D when compared to the corn-fed chickens (P < 0.05). Overall, MB2015 appeared to have higher enteric permeability than the JF. To our knowledge, this would be the first paper to evaluate the effect of compensatory growth on intestinal permeability and liver BT. Further studies to evaluate microbiome and inflammatory markers in these chicken models are currently being evaluated.

Identification of Serum Biomarkers for Intestinal Integrity in a Broiler Chicken Malabsorption Model

Intestinal health is essential for feed efficiency and growth in animal agriculture and is dependent on barrier function, inflammation and dysbiosis. Our laboratory has published a nutritional model to induce gut inflammation using rye as a source of energy in poultry. More recently, we have used this model as an assessment of a nutritional rehabilitation model for better understanding of childhood undernutrition. The objective of this brief research report was to use a well-establish malabsorption model in broiler chickens using corn and rye as an energy source to identify several intestinal health biomarkers in the serum. To screen for inflammatory biomarkers, seven commercially available tests were used including Griess, superoxide dismutase, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, Total antioxidant capacity, extracellular-signal-regulated kinase, Citrulline, and Interferon-ɤ; total IgA from cloacal swab was also measured. In the present study, chickens fed rye had a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in body weight and body weight gain at 10 day when compared with chickens that received the corn diet. In the second phase of the experiment, chickens that remain with the corn diet had significant differences in body weight and body weight gain. No significant differences were observed for any of the four antioxidant biomarkers evaluated in the sera (P > 0.05). However, significant differences were observed in serum citrulline and IFN-ɤ, as well as in cloacal IgA, in broiler chickens fed with rye, suggesting their potential use as biomarkers to study intestinal inflammation.