Effects of chitin and chitosan from cricket and shrimp on growth and carcass performance of broiler chickens.

Majority of the studies on the effect of chitin and chitosan on growth and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens has concentrated more on shrimp chitin and shrimp chitosan, and often with contradictory results. Therefore, the objective of this present study is to evaluate and compare the effect of dietary chitin and chitosan from cricket and shrimp on growth performance, carcass, and organ characteristics of broiler chickens. One hundred fifty-day-old male Cobb500 broiler chicks of similar average weight were randomly allotted into one of the five dietary treatments with three replicates. Treatment 1 (T1) chicks were fed basal diet only (control), treatment 2 and 3 (T2 and T3) chicks were given basal diet with 0.5 g/kg diet of cricket chitin and cricket chitosan, respectively, while treatment 4 and 5 (T4 and T5) chicks were served basal diet with 0.5 g/kg diet of shrimp chitin and shrimp chitosan respectively. No significant variation occurred between cricket chitin and shrimp chitin, although data on growth performance were higher in cricket chitin, but growth performance varied significantly between cricket chitosan and shrimp chitosan. This study revealed that cricket chitin at 0.5 g/kg significantly improved growth performance, carcass quality, and organ characteristics of broilers more than chitosan. Birds fed basal diet alone, although gained more weight, also accumulated more fat having the poorest feed conversion ratio (FCR) and the highest mortality. However, carcass of birds fed cricket chitin was the leanest and thus economically beneficial as they consumed the least amount of feed with the best FCR.

Efficacy of Nigella sativa in alleviating benzo[a]pyrene-induced immunotoxicity in broilers.

The immune response of broiler chickens exposed to intra-tracheal (i.t.) administration of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) with and without Nigella sativa (Ns) supplementation was investigated. A total of 120 day-old chicks were divided into four groups comprising 30 birds each, into a control, Ns, BaP, and BaP+Ns group. Immune responses to Newcastle disease (ND) were evaluated by haemagglutination inhibition (HI), phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) skin test and carbon clearance assay (CCA). In most instances, there was a significant increase (p<0.05) in the ND-HI antibody titers, PHA skin-swelling response and phagocytic activity in the BaP + Ns group compared to that of the BaP group. Likewise, organ weight and indices of the spleen, bursa of Fabricius and thymus of birds from the BaP + Ns group were also higher (p<0.05) than that of the BaP group from day 1 until day 21. It is concluded that exposure to BaP may exert adverse effects on the immune system of broilers which may increase their susceptibility to disease, and Ns supplementation significantly reduces these alterations.

Effects of Momordica charantia on pancreatic histopathological changes associated with streptozotocin-induced diabetes in neonatal rats.

The aim of this research was to determine the effects of Momordica charantia (MC) fruit aqueous extract on pancreatic histopathological changes in neonatal STZ-induced type-II diabetic rats. Diabetes mellitus was induced in one day Sprague-Dawley neonatal rats using a single intrapretoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) (85 mg/kg body weight) and monitored for 12 weeks thereafter. The diabetic rats were separated into three groups, as follows: the diabetic control group (i.e. nSTZ), the diabetic group (i.e. nSTZ/M) - which was orally given 20 mg/kg of MC fruit extract, and the diabetic group (i.e. nSTZ/G) - that was treated with glibenclamide, 0.1 mg/kg for a period of four weeks. At the end of treatment, the animals were sacrificed and blood samples were collected from the saphenous vein to measure the blood glucose and serum insulin level. The pancreatic specimens were removed and processed for light microscopy, electron microscopy examination and immunohistochemical study. The results of this study showed that MC fruit aqueous extract reduced the blood glucose level as well as glibenclamide and increased the serum insulin level in the treated diabetic rats (P<0.05). The fruit extract of MC alleviated pancreatic damage and increased the number of ß-cells in the diabetic treated rats (P<0.05). Our results suggest that oral feeding of MC fruit extract may have a significant role in the renewal of pancreatic ß-cells in the nSTZ rats.