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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Food and Feed Safety Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #340885
Title: Changes in immune and metabolic gut response in broilers fed beta-mannanase in beta-mannan containing diets

Author
item ARSENAULT, RYAN - University Of Delaware
item LEE, JASON - Texas A&M University
item LATHAM, ROCKY - Texas A&M University
item CARTER, BRANDON - Elanco Animal Health, Inc
item Kogut, Michael - Mike

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/10/2017
Publication Date: 12/1/2017
Citation: Arsenault, R.J., Lee, J.T., Latham, R., Carter, B., Kogut, M.H. 2017. Changes in immune and metabolic gut response in broilers fed beta-mannanase in beta-mannan containing diets. Poultry Science. 96(12):4307-4316. 10.3382/ps/pex246.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3382/ps/pex246

Interpretive Summary: There are materials in chicken diets that are very hard for the birds to digest, inhibiting them from getting all of the nutritional value of their feed. Some indigestible materials cause inflammation in the stomach of the birds making them feel sick and not eat properly. Therefore, feed companies are adding chemicals to their diet that they hope will attack this indigestible material. This will stop the inflammation and release the nutritious material so that the birds can get all of the nutrition from the feed. This paper demonstrates that one of these chemicals called hemocell does break down a complex feed ingredient that causes inflammation. By attacking this ingredient, the inflammation stops and the birds grow like they should. This paper will benefit chicken growers, microbiologists, and nutritionists and will aid in creating better animal feeds that encourage the growth of normal bacteria in the gut.

Technical Abstract: Beta-mannans, found in soy-based broiler feed, are known to cause physiological effects that are hypothesized to be related to gut inflammation. Previous studies have shown that the incorporation of beta-mannanase in the diet or as a supplement results in improvements to certain performance parameters related to gut health and feed conversion. Using kinome analysis, we characterized the mechanism of beta-mannan activity and supplementation with beta-mannanase on the gut of commercial broilers to understand the mode of action. Two doses of beta-mannanase (200 and 400 g/ton of feed) with and without inclusion of additional beta-mannan (3000 ppm) were tested at 3 time points (d 14, d 28 and d 42 post-hatch). Broilers were fed starter (d 0-14), grower (d 15-28), and finisher diets (d 29-42). Jejuna were collected from birds from each treatment condition and time point. Cluster analysis of the kinome data showed that birds clustered first by age, then predominantly by whether beta-mannanase had been included in their diet. Biological pathway analysis showed that the inclusion of additional beta-mannan into the diet resulted in increased signaling related to immune response, relative to our normal control diet (with reduced soybean meal). The addition of beta-mannanase to the enhanced beta-mannan diet eliminated the majority of this immune related signaling, indicating that the feed-induced immune response within the jejuna had been eliminated by the addition of beta-mannanase. We also saw changes in specific metabolic and gut function pathways in birds fed beta-mannanase. These observed changes in beta-mannanase fed birds are likely the mechanism behind the enhanced performance and feed conversion observed in birds given beta-mannanase in their diets.