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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 #380928
Research Project: Identification of the Ecological Niches and Development of Intervention Strategies to Reduce Pathogenic Foodborne Pathogens in Poultry

Location: Food and Feed Safety Research

Title: A protected complex of biofactors and antioxidants improved growth performance and modulated the immunometabolic phenotype of broiler chickens undergoing early life stress

Author
item BORTOLUZZI, CRISTIANO - Jefo Nutrition Canada
item LAYAHE, LUDOVIC - Jefo Nutrition Canada
item PERRY, FAMATTA - University Of Delaware
item ARSENAULT, RYAN - University Of Delaware
item SANTIN, ELIZABETH - Jefo Nutrition Canada
item KORVER, DOUGLAS - University Of Alberta
item Kogut, Michael - Mike

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/18/2021
Publication Date: 6/5/2021
Citation: Bortoluzzi, C., Layahe, L., Perry, F., Arsenault, R.J., Santin, E., Korver, D., Kogut, M.H. 2021. A protected complex of biofactors and antioxidants improved growth performance and modulated the immunometabolic phenotype of broiler chickens undergoing early life stress. Poultry Science. 100(7). Article 101176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2021.101176.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2021.101176

Interpretive Summary: In the past, chicks were given low levels of antibiotics in their feed to help them grow. However, this caused problems with germs becoming resistant to the antibiotics. Therefore, research has started looking at more 'green' methods to help chicks grow better and safer. Toxic molecules, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), are naturally generated chemicals in chicks due to stress situations such as summer heat or winter cold conditions. In the diets of chicks, it is common to supply materials called antioxidants that get rid of the ROS and improve the growth of the chicks during these stressful times. In these experiments, we fed the chicks diets containing new chemicals (antioxidants) to reduce ROS but are coated with a material that protects the chemicals from being destroyed in the stomach, allowing the chemicals to reach specific parts of the gut and relieve the negative effects of early life stress on the chicks. We found that the chicks grew better with these protected antioxidants than those not fed the protected antioxidants. We also found that the protected antioxidants increased the ability of chicks to use the nutrients in their food better and more efficiently which allowed them to grow better. These results are important to the poultry industry which is under pressure from consumers to find better and safer ways to get poultry to grow.

Technical Abstract: We evaluated the supplementation of a protected complex of biofactors and antioxidants (P(BF+AOx)) on growth performance, antioxidant activity, expression of immune-related genes, and immunometabolic phenotype of broilers submitted to early life stressors. The treatments were: a nutritionally complete basal diet supplemented or not with P(BF+AOx) (Jefo Nutrition Inc., Saint-Hyacinthe, Qc, Canada) from 1 to 14 d of age. Seven hundred and twenty (n=720) one-day old male Ross 308 chickens were placed into pens of 30 birds (12 replicates/treatment). Birds were double-vaccinated against infectious bronchitis (IB; MILDVAC-Ma5TM) and submitted, on d 3, to an acute reduction on environmental temperature (from 32 deg C to 20 deg C) for 48 h. Feed intake (FI), body weight gain (BWG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated weekly. On d 7 and 15, samples were collected for expression of immune-related genes and kinome array analysis, and serum to evaluate the antioxidant status. Data were analyzed by ANOVA using SAS (SAS 9.4). From d 1 to 21 and d 1 to 28, the dietary supplementation of P(BF+AOx) significantly increased BWG (P<0.05) by 3.6 and 3.8%, respectively, and improved FCR (P<0.05) by 1.2 and 1.8%, respectively. From d 1 to 35, dietary supplementation enhanced BWG (P=0.03) by 4%. Serum glutathione reductase activity on d 15 was higher in birds fed diets supplemented with P(BF+AOx) compared to the control diet-fed birds (P=0.04). Dietary supplementation downregulated (P=0.03) the expression of IL-1ß in the lungs on d 7. On d 15, dietary supplementation upregulated the expression of IL-6 (P=0.02) and IL-10 (P=0.03) in the liver. It was observed that, via decreased phosphorylation, catalase was activated in the jejunum and liver, and the phosphorylation of immunoregulatory or proinflammatory proteins was decreased. Other important cellular signaling pathways were also observed in the liver and jejunum. The supplementation of P(BF+AOx) improves growth performance by promoting a general anti-inflammatory and antioxidant response in chickens undergoing early life stress.