Does the use of lactic acid as an antibiotic substitute in broiler diets affect growth, carcass traits, blood indices and intestinal microbiota?

The objective of the current study was to determine the impact of lactic acid (LAC) as an antibiotic alternative in broiler diets on growth performance, carcass traits, blood indices and intestinal microbial load. A total of 300 broiler chicks one day old (Ross 208) were allotted to five experimental groups in a complete randomized design experiment. Each group was subdivided into six replicates, each of ten unsexed chicks. The treatments were as follows: NC: negative control (basal diet); PC: positive control (basal diet + 0.5 g Colistin® antibiotic/kg diet); LAC2, LAC4, and LAC6: basal diet + 2, 4, and 6 cm3 lactic acid/kg diet, respectively. Results showed no significant effects of dietary treatments (antibiotic or lactic acid) on growth performance traits (body weight, BW; daily body weight gain, DBWG; feed intake, FI and feed conversion ratio, FCR) and carcass characteristics except for Thigh %. All blood biochemical traits were affected (p > 0.01) by dietary treatments. The highest values of blood total protein and albumin were found in birds of LAC2 group. Adding graded doses of LAC to broiler diets inhibited the activity of liver enzymes and reduced the concentration of blood urea. The positive effect of LAC supplementation excelled that of antibiotics regarding the antioxidant status parameters. The lowest pathogenic bacteria (E. coli and Salmonella) were recorded by LAC4 and LAC6 groups. It could be concluded that dietary supplementation of lactic acid did not significantly affect most growth performance traits. But its use could have beneficial impacts on blood parameters, oxidative status and intestinal microbial counts. Based on our results, the highest level (6 cm3 LAC/kg diet) is the recommended level for the best results.

The effects of HCN and KLT ion channels on adaptation and refractoriness in a stochastic auditory nerve model.

An accurate model of auditory nerve fibers (ANFs) may assist in developing improved cochlear implant (CI) stimulation strategies. Previous studies have shown that the original Hodgkin-Huxley (HH) model may be better at describing nodes of Ranvier in ANFs than models for other mammalian axon types. However, the HH model is still unable to explain a number of phenomena observed in auditory nerve responses to CI stimulation such as adaptation to high-rate stimulation and the time course of relative refractoriness. Recent physiological investigations of ANFs have shown the presence of a number of ion channel types not considered in the previous modeling studies, including low-threshold potassium (KLT) channels and hyperpolarization-activated cation (HCN) channels. In this paper, we investigate inclusion of these ion channel types in a stochastic HH model of a single node of Ranvier. Simulation results for pulse trains with rates of 200, 800, and 2000 pulse/s suggests that both the KLT channels and HCN channels can produce adaptation in the spike rate. However, the adaptation due to KLT is restricted to higher stimulation rates, whereas the adaptation due to HCN is observed across all stimulation rates. Additionally, using pulse pairs it was found that KLT increased both the absolute and the relative refractory periods. HCN on its own increased just the relative refractory period, but produced a synergistic increase in the absolute refractory period when combined with KLT. Together these results argue strongly for the need to consider HCN and KLT channels when studying CI stimulation of ANFs.

Effects of I(h) and I(KLT) on the response of the auditory nerve to electrical stimulation in a stochastic Hodgkin-Huxley model.

An accurate model of auditory nerve fibers (ANFs) would help in improving cochlear implant (CI) functionality. Previous studies have shown that the original Hodgkin-Huxley (1952) model (with kinetics adjusted for mammalian body temperature) may be better at describing nodes of Ranvier in ANFs than models for other mammalian axon types. However, the HH model is still unable to explain a number of phenomena observed in auditory nerve responses to CI stimulation such as long-term accommodation, adaptation and the time-course of relative refractoriness. Recent physiological investigations of spiral ganglion cells have shown the presence of a number of ion channel types not considered in the previous modeling studies, including low-threshold potassium (I(KLT)) channels and hyperpolarization-activated cation (I(h)) channels. In this paper we investigate inclusion of these ion channel types in a stochastic HH model. For single biphasic charge-balanced pulse, an increase in spike threshold was typically produced by inclusion of one or both of these channel types. The addition of I(KLT) increases random threshold fluctuations in the stochastic model, particularly for longer pulse widths. Pulse-train responses were investigated for pulse rates of 200, 800, and 2000 pulse/s. Initial results suggests that both the I(KLT) channels and I(h) channels can produce adaptation in the spike rate. However, the adaptation due to I(KLT) is restricted to higher stimulation rates, whereas the adaptation due to I(h) is observed across all stimulation rates.