Dietary Lactobacillus reuteri SL001 Improves Growth Performance, Health-Related Parameters, Intestinal Morphology and Microbiota of Broiler Chickens.

It was assumed that dietary inclusion of Lactobacillus reuteri SL001 isolated from the gastric contents of rabbits could act as an alternative to feed antibiotics to improve the growth performance of broiler chickens. We randomly assigned 360 one-day-old AA white-feathered chicks in three treatments: basal diet (control), basal diet plus zinc bacitracin (antibiotic), and basal diet plus L. reuteri SL001 (SL001) treatment. The results showed the total BW gain and average daily gain (ADG) of broilers in SL001 treatment increased significantly (p < 0.05, respectively) compared with the control group from day 0 to 42. Moreover, we observed higher levels of immune globulins in both the SL001 group and the antibiotic group. Total antioxidant capacity and levels of antioxidant factors were also significantly increased (p ≤ 0.05, respectively) in the SL001 treatment group, while the interleukin 6, interleukin 4, creatinine, uric acid, total cholesterol, triglyceride, VLDL, LDL and malondialdehyde were remarkably decreased (p < 0.05, respectively). In the ileum of SL001 treatment broilers, the height of villi and the ratio of villi height to crypt depth were significantly increased (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the crypt depth reduced (p < 0.01) and the ratio of villi height to crypt depth increased (p < 0.05) in the jejunum compared to the control. The abundance of microbiota increased in the gut of broilers supplemented with SL001. Dietary SL001 significantly increased the relative abundance of Actinobacteria in the cecal contents of broilers (p < 0.01) at the phylum level. In conclusion, L. reuteri SL001 supplementation promotes the growth performance of broiler chickens and exhibits the potential application value in the industry of broiler feeding.

[Influence of Lactobacillus reuteri SL001 on intestinal microbiota in AD model mice and C57BL/6 mice].

We studied the influence of Lactobacillus reuteri SL001 (L. reuteri SL001) on the gut microbial community in Alzheimer's disease model mice (APP/PS1 double transgenic mice, ADmice) and wild type (C57BL/6) mice. The AD model mice and wild type mice were divided into test and control groups (4 in total), with 5 mice each and only male mice. The test group was fed with 0.2 mL suspension of L. reuteri SL001 at 5×10¹¹ CFU/mL. The control group received the same amount of sterile PBS daily for 45 days. Fecal samples were collected to compare and analyze the community structure and diversity of microbiota through high-throughput sequencing of the V3-V4 region of 16S rRNA gene. By sequence alignment and classification, the intestinal microbial OTUs of the 4 groups including 19 phyla, 40 classes, 64 orders, 104 families and 175 genera. The α diversity of AD model mice was greater than that of wild type mice, but the difference between the two was small. After adding L. reuteri SL001, the α diversity of both mice increased, and the increase in AD model mice was smaller. At the phyla level, the dominant phyla of the four groups of mice were Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. The abundance of Bacteroides phylum in AD model mice was lower than that of wild type, and the abundance of chlamydomonas was higher than that of wild type. Feeding L. reuteri SL001 reduced the proportion of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) in mice. At the order level, the relative abundance of Bacteroidales, Lactobacillales, Bacillales and Bifidobacteriales in AD model mice was lower than that of wild type mice. At the genus level, the abundant genera were Allobaculum, Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group, Bacteroides and Lactobacillus. The relative abundance of Bacteroides, Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and Alloprevotella in AD model mice was lower than that in wild type mice. Adding L. reuteri SL001 increased the abundance of these genera and Bacteroides, Lactobacillus, Bacillus and Bifidobacteria in AD model mice. The relative abundance of Butyrivibrio in AD model mice was also lower than that in wild type, but after the feeding of L. reuteri SL001, the relative abundance was reduced in both mice. The dominant strains of wild-type mice were Lactobacillus, and no dominant flora was found in AD model mice. The results in this article provide valuable data for revealing the difference in intestinal microbial diversity between AD model mice and C57BL/6 mice, and feeding L. reuteri SL001 play positive roles in adjusting the intestinal bacterial community structure of AD model mice.

D-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid inhibits intrathecal pertussis toxin-induced thermal hyperalgesia and protein kinase Cgamma up-regulation.

The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of intrathecal (i.t.) injection of pertussis toxin (PTX) on the nociceptive threshold and protein kinase C (PKC) expression in the rat spinal cord. The role of N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors in these changes was also examined. Male Wistar rats were implanted with two i.t. catheters, one of which was connected to a mini-osmotic pump and used to infuse saline or D-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (D-AP5) (2 microg/h) starting on day 3 after i.t. catheter insertion. Two days later, a single injection of saline or PTX (2 microg) was given via the other catheter, followed by a flush with 10 microl of saline. On day 4 after PTX or saline injection, the thermal paw withdrawal latency was measured, then the rats were sacrificed by decapitation, and the dorsal part of the lumbosacral spinal segments was removed for PKC Western blotting assays. In PTX-treated rats, thermal hyperalgesia was observed, and the PKCgamma content of both the synaptosomal membrane and cytosolic fractions was significantly increased. The levels of alpha-, betaI-, or betaII-PKC isozymes in these fractions were unaffected by PTX treatment. Infusion of the NMDA antagonist, D-AP5, prevented both the thermal hyperalgesia and the increase in PKCgamma isoform expression in PTX-treated rats, and had no effect on these values in nai;ve rats. Intrathecal injection of the PKC inhibitor, chelerythrine (10 microg), significantly inhibited the thermal hyperalgesia observed in PTX-treated rats. These results show that i.t. injection of PTX induced thermal hyperalgesia accompanied by a selective increase in PKCgamma expression in both the synaptosomal membrane and cytosolic fractions of the dorsal horn of the rat lumbar spinal cord, and both effects were inhibited by the NMDA receptor antagonist, D-AP5.