Exploring the Effects of an Alfalfa Leaf-Derived Adsorbent on Microbial Community, Ileal Morphology, Barrier Function, and Immunity in Turkey Poults during Chronic Aflatoxin B1 Exposure.

This article follows-up on our recently published work, which evaluated the impact of the addition of an alfalfa leaf-derived adsorbent in the aflatoxin B1 (AFB1)-contaminated diet in regard to the production parameters, blood cell count, serum biochemistry, liver enzymes, and liver histology of turkey poults. This paper presents complementary results on microbial community, ileal morphology, barrier function, and immunity. For this purpose, 350 1-day-old female turkey poults were randomly distributed into five groups: (1) Control, AFB1-free diet; (2) AF, AFB1-contaminated diet at 250 ng/g; (3) alfalfa, AFB1-free diet + 0.5% (w/w) adsorbent; (4) alfalfa + AF, AFB1-contaminated diet at 250 ng/g + 0.5% (w/w) adsorbent; and (5) YCW + AF, AFB1-contaminated diet at 250 ng/g + 0.5% (w/w) commercial yeast cell wall-based adsorbent (reference group). In general, in the AF group, the growth of opportunistic pathogens was promoted, which lead to gut dysbacteriosis, mainly influenced by Streptococcus lutetiensis. Conversely, a significant increase in beneficial bacteria (Faecalibacterium and Coprococcus catus) was promoted by the addition of the plant-based adsorbent. Moreover, the AF group had the lowest villus height and a compromised barrier function, as evidenced by a significant (p < 0.05) increase in fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran (FITC-d), but these negative effects were almost reversed by the addition of the alfalfa adsorbent. Furthermore, the AF + YCW and alfalfa + AF groups exhibited a significant increase in the cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity response compared to the rest of the experimental groups. Taken together, these results pointed out that the alfalfa counteracts the adverse effects of AFB1 in poults, facilitating the colonization of beneficial bacteria and improving the barrier function of the turkey poults.

Assessment of the Impact of Humic Acids on Intestinal Microbiota, Gut Integrity, Ileum Morphometry, and Cellular Immunity of Turkey Poults Fed an Aflatoxin B1-Contaminated Diet.

A recent study published data on the growth performance, relative weights of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract, liver histology, serum biochemistry, and hematological parameters for turkey poults fed an experimental diet contaminated with aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and humic acids (HA) extracted from vermicompost. The negative effects of AFB1 (250 ng AFB1/g of feed) were significantly reduced by HA supplementation (0.25% w/w), suggesting that HA might be utilized to ameliorate the negative impact of AFB1 from contaminated diets. The present study shows the results of the remaining variables, as an extension of a previously published work which aimed to evaluate the impact of HA on the intestinal microbiota, gut integrity, ileum morphometry, and cellular immunity of turkey poults fed an AFB1-contaminated diet. For this objective, five equal groups of 1-day-old female Nicholas-700 turkey poults were randomly assigned to the following treatments: negative control (basal diet), positive control (basal diet + 250 ng AFB1/g), HA (basal diet + 0.25% HA), HA + AFB1 (basal diet + 0.25% HA + 250 ng AFB1/g), and Zeolite (basal diet + 0.25% zeolite + 250 ng AFB1/g). In the experiment, seven replicates of ten poults each were used per treatment (n = 70). In general, HA supplementation with or without the presence of AFB1 showed a significant increase (p < 0.05) in the number of beneficial butyric acid producers, ileum villi height, and ileum total area, and a significant reduction in serum levels of fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran (FITC-d), a marker of intestinal integrity. In contrast, poults fed with AFB1 showed a significant increase in Proteobacteria and lower numbers of beneficial bacteria, clearly suggesting gut dysbacteriosis. Moreover, poults supplemented with AFB1 displayed the lowest morphometric parameters and the highest intestinal permeability. Furthermore, poults in the negative and positive control treatments had the lowest cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity response. These findings suggest that HA supplementation enhanced intestinal integrity (shape and permeability), cellular immune response, and healthier gut microbiota composition, even in the presence of dietary exposure to AFB1. These results complement those of the previously published study, suggesting that HA may be a viable dietary intervention to improve gut health and immunity in turkey poults during aflatoxicosis.

Corrigendum: Evaluation of the efficacy of humic acids to counteract the toxic effects of aflatoxin B1 in turkey poults.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1276754.].

The Immuno-Suppressive Effects of Cyclic, Environmental Heat Stress in Broiler Chickens: Local and Systemic Inflammatory Responses to an Intradermal Injection of Lipopolysaccharide.

To assess effects of environmental heat stress (HS) on the local and systemic inflammatory responses to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), broilers were reared under thermoneutral (TN) or cyclic HS conditions. Thermoneutral temperatures followed commercial production settings, with HS broilers exposed to 35 °C for 14 h/day from 4 days onward. At 37 days, HS- and TN-broilers were assigned to either LPS (100 µg/mL) or endotoxin-free phosphate-buffered saline (PBS; vehicle) treatments, eight each to HS- and TN-LPS, four each to HS- and TN-PBS. Treatments were administered by intradermal injection of growing feather (GF) pulps; 10 µL/GF; 12 GF/broiler. Blood and GF were collected before and at 6 and 24 h post-injection to assess leukocyte population changes in GF-pulps and blood, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and cytokine expression in GF-pulps, and plasma concentrations of alpha-1 acid glycoprotein (AGP-1). HS-LPS broilers had lower (p ≤ 0.05) infiltration of heterophils and macrophages, ROS generation, and inflammatory cytokine expression in GF-pulps, and lacked the increases in heterophil, monocyte, and plasma AGP-1 concentrations observed in TN-LPS broilers. HS-broilers had similar or greater drops in blood lymphocytes 6 h post-LPS or -PBS injection, respectively, and lower baseline levels (p ≤ 0.05) of circulating T- and B-lymphocytes than TN-broilers. Results indicated that cyclic HS reduced the local and systemic acute inflammatory responses to LPS in broilers, likely impairing their innate defense against microbial infection.

Exclusión competitiva entre Salmonella enteriditis y Salmonella gallinarum en pollito de 1 día de edad infectados simultáneamente o consecutivamente / Competitive exclusion between Salmonella enteritidis and Salmonella gallinarium in one day-old broiler chicken challenged consecutive-or simultaneously

Se evaluó la inducción a la resistencia de desafíos consecutivos o simultáneos entre Salmonella enteritidis (SE) y Salmonella gallinarum (SG). En los experimentos con desafíos consecutivos, siempre se observó que la primera variedad de Salmonella administrada, predominó casi exclusivamante en la invasión del hígado, bazo y tonsilas cecales. Cuando se administraron simultáneamente ya sea al día uno o dos, ambas variedades fueron recuperadas del hígado, bazo y tonsilas cecales. Estos resultados indican que aun cuando las aves son susceptibles a ambas infecciones de Salmonella sp (24 horas), éstas pueden ser refractarias a un segundo desafío con otra variedad, y que si ocurriera una exposición simultánea, son posibles las infecciones mixtas. Los resultados obtenidos en el presente estudio confirman y extienden informes previos de la rápida inducción a la resistencia a desafíos consecutivos con diferentes variedades de Salmonella

Efecto de la adición del acido cápsico, proveniente de la semilla de paprika (Capsicum annuum) en la dieta de pollo de engorda infectado experimentalmente por Salmonella gallinarum / Effect of Paprika seed (Capsicum annum) diet on Salmonella gallinarum infection in broiler chicks

Para evaluar el efecto del ácido cápsico en la dieta de pollos de engorda, se utilizaron 150 pollitos mixtos de un día de edad, que fueron divididos aleatoriamente en 5 grupos con 30 aves cada uno. Los grupos 1 y 2 fueron alimentados con una dieta basal, mientras que los grupos 3, 4 y 5 recibieron una dieta basal con 18, 27 y 35 ppm de ácido cáspico respectivamante. A los 15 días de edad se registraron los pesos de todos los grupos y se inocularon a las aves de los grupos 2, 3, 4 y 5 con 10 ufc/ml de Salmonella gallinarum resistente a ácido nalidíxico y novobiocina. Las aves se sacrificaron 24 h posinoculación y se realizó la lectura del pH cecal; se obtuvieron muestras de tonsilas cecales para determinar la colonización cecal y de hígado y bazo (muestra mixta) para determinar la invasión a órganos. Tanto la colonización como la invasión por S. gallinarum fue menor (P< 0.001) en los tres grupos que recibieron ácido cápsico en la dieta, en comparación con el grupo inoculado que recibió una dieta basal. El pH cecal disminuyo significativamante (P< 0.05) en los grupos tratados, en relación con los grupos testigo. Los resultados obtenidos en este estudio concuerdan con estudios previos donde se observó que la capsaicina aumentó la resistencia a la invasión de S. enteritidis en órganos. Esta resistencia estuvo asociada con el pH cecal y sugiere que la capsaicina presente en la semilla de paprika es también efectiva en la invasión causada por S. gallinarum en órganos