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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Toxicology & Mycotoxin Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #420825
Research Project: Strategies to Reduce Mycotoxin Contamination in Animal Feed and its Effect in Poultry Production Systems

Location: Toxicology & Mycotoxin Research

Title: A comparative evaluation of antibiotic and synbiotic supplementation on production performance and necrotic enteritis severity in broilers during an experimental necrotic enteritis challenge

Author
item SHAH, BIKAS - University Of Georgia
item HAKEEM, WALID - University Of Georgia
item Shanmugasundaram, Revathi
item SELVARAJ, RAMESH - University Of Georgia

Submitted to: Frontiers in Physiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/12/2024
Publication Date: 1/15/2025
Citation: Shah, B.R., Hakeem, W.A., Shanmugasundaram, R., Selvaraj, R.K. 2025. A comparative evaluation of antibiotic and synbiotic supplementation on production performance and necrotic enteritis severity in broilers during an experimental necrotic enteritis challenge. Frontiers in Physiology. Front. Physiol. 15:1511380.. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2024.1511380.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2024.1511380

Interpretive Summary: Necrotic enteritis (NE) is a serious disease that harms poultry and causes major losses for farmers worldwide. It leads to problems like poor appetite, diarrhea, and low energy in birds. In the past, farmers used antimicrobial growth promoters (AGPs) to control NE and keep poultry healthy. However, overusing AGPs caused bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics and left harmful residues in food and the environment. Because of these issues, AGPs are now banned, and farmers need safe and effective alternatives. One potential solution is synbiotics, which combine probiotics and prebiotics to boost the chicken's health. This research studied how synbiotics compared to AGPs in broiler chickens infected with NE. Antibiotics helped the chickens recover faster at first, but by 35 days of age, chickens given synbiotics showed similar health, gut integrity, and immune responses to those treated with AGPs. This shows that synbiotics can keep poultry healthy over time, even if recovery is slower in the beginning. This research shows that synbiotics are a promising and environmentally friendly option for controlling NE in poultry. Using synbiotics from the start can reduce the need for AGPs, helping to prevent antibiotic resistance while keeping birds healthy and productive. This change supports safer food production and more sustainable farming practices.

Technical Abstract: A 35-day study was conducted to compare the efficacy of synbiotic (PoultryStar®ME) and antibiotic(Stafac®50, Virginiamycin supplementation during an experimentally induced necrotic enteritis (NE)infection. A total of 360 day-old chicks were randomly assigned to four treatment groups: Antibiotic, Antibiotic + Challenge, Synbiotic, and Synbiotic + Challenge, each with 6 replicates. The treatment groups referred as "antibiotic + challenge" and "synbiotic + challenge" were challenged, while their respective non-challenged treatment groups were "antibiotic" and "synbiotic". NE in birds was induced by gavaging 1 x 104 oocysts of Eimeria maxima on day 14 (D14) and 1 x 108 CFU/mL of Clostridium perfringens on D19, 20, and 21. Both synbiotic and antibiotic supplementation during the NE challenge did not improve BW gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio at the end of the experiment (D0-35). However, antibiotic supplementation reduced mortality during the week of the challenge (D14-21)(P<0.001). At D21, both synbiotic and antibiotic supplementation during the NE challenge did not decrease the intestinal lesion score (P<0.001) compared to their respective non-challenged treatment groups. At D21, synbiotic supplementation during the NE challenge did not decrease intestinal permeability (P=0.04) compared to the synbiotic group. At D21, antibiotic supplementation during the NE challenge increased the CD4+:CD8+ T cells (P<0.001) in the cecal tonsil. It can be concluded that synbiotic supplementation elicited an immune response, decreasing the inflammatory response in the intestine and ameliorating the NE infection. Therefore, synbiotic could be a potential alternative to replace antibiotics in the poultry industry, but their efficacy needs to be improved through blending additional probiotics and prebiotics, and further exploration is required.