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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Food Safety and Enteric Pathogens Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #125687
Title: DIETARY VITAMIN E IMPROVED THE IMMUNE RESPONSES OF TURKEYS INOCULATED WITH LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES

Author
item ZHU, M - NATL ANIM DIS CENTER
item WESLEY, IRENE
item WANG, C - NATL ANIM DIS CENTER
item AHN, D - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Food Safety Consortium Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/18/2001
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: One hundred one-day-old turkeys were assigned to four dietary treatments containing 0, 50, 100, or 200 IU vitamin E. After six weeks on experimental diet, turkeys were orally inoculated with 2 ml of Listeria monocytogenes (5 x 10**8 CFU/ml). Cloacal swabs were taken at 1 day and daily after 4 day postinouclation (PI). On 5, 8, 11, 14, and 25 days PI, five turkeys were randomly selected from each group and necropsied. Viscera (cecum, liver, spleen, breast muscle, large intestine, proximal and distal small intestine) were collected and cultured for L. monocytogenes. On day 1 PI, L. monocytogenes was present on 88% swabs of control (0 IU) birds, 84% and 68% of 100 IU and 200 IU vitamin E dietary supplement groups. After 4 days, Listeria was detected in 9% of cloacal swabs of control group, 5% in 100 IU and 6% in 200 IU treatment group. For the turkeys necropsied on 5 days PI, L. monocytogenes was cultured from 60% of distal small intestines of control group, 50% of 100 IU and 40% of 200 IU treated birds. Further, 40% of ceca in control group were L. monocytogenes positive, while none were positive in 100 IU and 200 IU groups. Therefore, clearance of L. monocytogenes in turkeys on diets supplemented with vitamin E was faster than in control birds. Dietary vitamin E increased serum vitamin E levels as well as total white blood cell counts in turkeys inoculated with L. monocytogenes. The increase in white blood cells, especially monocytes and heterophils, which have strong phagocytic activities, might accelerate the clearance of L. monocytogenes and enhance the resistance to L. monocytogenes infection.