Sodium butyrate ameliorates Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis infection in RAW264.7 macrophages and C57BL/6 mice.

Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis (CP) infection in livestock has become highly difficult to control. To decrease the incidence of CP infection, the supplementation of feed with non-antibiotic antibacterial substances is a potential approach. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of sodium butyrate (NaB), a potential alternative to antibiotics, on CP infection in RAW264.7 macrophages and C57BL/6 mice. Our data showed that NaB (2 mM) significantly ameliorated CPinfection in RAW264.7 macrophages and decreased the bacterial load in the spleens of infected mice. By real-time PCR, we found that NaB induced significant decreases in zinc-dependent superoxide dismutase (sodC) and tip protein C (spaC) expression in CP from infected-RAW264.7 cells and in phospholipase D (pld) and spaC expression in CP from the spleens of infected mice. NaB treatment significantly up-regulated cathelicidin-related antimicrobial peptide (cramp) expression in spleens of mice infected with CP. Furthermore, NaB alleviated histopathological changes in spleens of CP-infected mice. In conclusion, NaB ameliorated CP infection in RAW264.7 macrophages and C57BL/6 mice, and these effects may be related to the modulation of sodC, spaC, pld, and cramp expression.

Changes of cecal microflora in chickens following Eimeria tenella challenge and regulating effect of coated sodium butyrate.

Eimeria tenella, one of the most important parasitic protozoa in the genus Eimeria, is responsible for chicken caecal coccidiosis resulting in huge economic losses to poultry industry. The present study investigated the changes in caecal microflora of E. tenella-infected chickens and the regulating effect of coated sodium butyrate, a potential alternative to antibiotics. Using high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA V3-V4 region of bacteria we found significant changes in caecal microflora of E. tenella-infected chickens indicated by an increase of Firmicutes (mainly Ruminococcaceae, Lachnospiraceae and vadin BB60) and Proteobacteria (mainly Enterobacteriaceae) and a decrease of Bacteroidetes (predominantly Bacteroidaceae). Inclusion of coated sodium butyrate in the diet of chickens per se had no significant effect on caecal microflora of normal healthy chickens but significantly prevented the increase in Firmicute abundance and decrease of Bacteroidetes abundance in E. tenella-infected birds. No significant changes to caecal microflora were observed at the phylum level between control and E. tenella-infected birds given coated sodium butyrate. In conclusion, our results show that coated sodium butyrate can balance the disorders of cecal microflora caused by E. tenella; thus, it can be a useful supplement for the control of avian coccidiosis.