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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Biosciences & Biotechnology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #320141
Title: Dietary Capsicum and Curcuma longa oleoresins alter the intestinal microbiome and Necrotic Enteritis Severity in three commercial broiler breeds

Author
item KIM, JI EUN - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item Lillehoj, Hyun
item HONG, YEONG HO - Chung-Ang University
item KIM, GEUN BAE - Chung-Ang University
item LEE, SUNG HYEN - Rural Development Administration - Korea
item LILLEHOJ, ERIK - University Of Maryland
item BRAVO, DAVID - Pancosma Sa

Submitted to: Research in Veterinary Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/28/2015
Publication Date: 8/2/2015
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/61647
Citation: Kim, J., Lillehoj, H.S., Hong, Y., Kim, G., Lee, S., Lillehoj, E.P., Bravo, D.M. 2015. Dietary Capsicum and Curcuma longa oleoresins alter the intestinal microbiome and Necrotic Enteritis Severity in three commercial broiler breeds. Research in Veterinary Science. 102:150-158.

Interpretive Summary: Avian necrotic enteritis (NE) is an intestinal disease caused by the bacterium, Clostridium perfringens and represents one of the most economically important infectious diseases affecting the world’s poultry industry. With increasing regulatory and voluntary restrictions on the use of antibiotics in poultry, there is an enhanced interest in developing alternatives to antibiotics. Modulation of innate immunity using natural foods and herbal-derived essential oils offers another avenue to enhance poultry health and reduce the negative effects of pathogen infection. ARS scientists in collaboration with university scientists and industry partners, investigated using plant-derived feed additives, oils from peppers and turmeric, to stimulate the chicken immune system and to enhance host defense against intestinal bacteria and parasites. Furthermore, this study showed that these dietary herbal-derived essential oils also alterd the distribution and number of the types of bacteria in the gut resulting in a reduction of the negative effects caused by the NE disease. This is the first study to show a significant effect of herbal-derived essential oils on NE and associated with intestinal microbes. This opens a new way to reduce the use of antibiotics in poultry disease control.

Technical Abstract: Three commercial broiler breeds were fed from hatch with a diet supplemented with Capsicum and Curcuma longa oleoresins, and co-infected with Eimeria maxima and Clostridium perfringens to induce necrotic enteritis (NE). Pyrotag deep sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA showed that gut microbiota compositions were quite distinct depend on the broiler breed type. In the absence of oleoresin diet, the number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs), was decreased in infected Cobb, and increased in Ross and Hubbard, compared with the uninfected. In the absence of oleoresin diet, all chicken breeds had decreased Candidatus Arthromitus, while the proportion of Lactobacillus was increased in Cobb, but decreased in Hubbard and Ross. Oleoresin supplementation of infected chickens increased OTUs in Cobb and Ross, but decreased OTUs in Hubbard, compared with unsupplemented/infected controls. Oleoresin supplementation of infected Cobb and Hubbard was associated with an increased percentage of gut Lactobacillus and decreased Selenihalanaerobacter, while Ross had a decreased fraction of Lactobacillus and increased Selenihalanaerobacter, Clostridium, Calothrix, and Geitlerinema. These results suggest that dietary Capsicum/Curcuma oleoresins reduced the negative consequences of NE on body weight and intestinal lesion, in part, through alteration of the gut microbiome in 3 commercial broiler breeds.