RESUMO
The beneficial effect of probiotics on host health is impaired due to the substantial loss of survivability during gastric transit caused by small intestinal enzymes and bile acids. Encapsulation helps to preserve the probiotics species from severe environmental factors. Lactobacillus paracasei, highly sensitive probiotic species to gastric acid, was encapsulated with polyacrylate resin. C57BL/6 male mice were equally divided into three groups; control group was fed with basal diet without any additives, the un-encapsulated group was fed with 0.1% of a mixture of encapsulating material and L. paracasei, and encapsulated group was fed with 0.1% encapsulated L. paracasei (microcapsule) for 4 weeks. The result showed elevated fecal moisture percentage in the encapsulated group, but not in the un-encapsulated group. Further study showed that the ratio of villus height to crypt depth in the small intestine was significantly higher compared to un-encapsulated and the control group. Microencapsulated probiotics also remarkably increased intestinal mucin and secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) concentration, intestinal MUC-2, and tight junction protein mRNA expression levels improving the intestinal barrier function of mice. In addition, microcapsules also reduced proinflammatory factor mRNA expression, while considerably increasing anti-inflammatory factor mRNA expression. Microbiota metabolites, fecal LPS (Lipopolysaccharide) were downregulated, and acetate and lactate were upraised compared to control. Furthermore, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and TAOC levels were increased and Malondialdehyde (MDA) was decreased improving antioxidant capacity. Microflora and bioinformatic predictive analysis of feces showed that encapsulated probiotics remarkably increased Lactobacillus proportions. Mice's intestinal health can thus be improved by using microencapsulated probiotics.
RESUMO
The beneficial action of probiotics is questioned time and again due to the loss of their survivability under gastrointestinal conditions, particularly gastric acid. In this experiment, a probiotic species was encapsulated to improve its delivery to the distal parts, and its effects on production performance, gut health, and microbial profile in broilers were investigated. A total of 240 Arbor acres (AA) broilers were randomly allotted into 3 treatments with 8 replicate pens per treatment and 10 broilers in each pen for 42 d. Dietary treatments were 1) basal feed without any additives (CON), 2) CON+15 ppm Virginiamycin (ANT), and 3) CON+500 ppm encapsulated Lactobacillus paracaesi (ELP). The result showed that the addition of ELP to the feed did not affect growth performance and carcass characteristics significantly. However, ELP increased the ratio of villus height to crypt depth (P < 0.05) and mRNA expression of ZO-1 (P < 0.05) relative to the CON or ANT group. Similarly, qPCR showed that dietary supplementation of ELP raised gene expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine and tended to decrease proinflammatory cytokines resulting improve in immunity. Moreover, chicks fed with ELP had lower malondialdehyde (MDA) (P < 0.05) than CON and lower reactive oxygen species (ROS) (P < 0.05) level than ANT in serum. In contrast, the total antioxidant capacity (TAOC) level was tended to increase. The ammonia level of ileum and cecum chyme was decreased (P < 0.05) in the ELP group than CON while the level of propionic acid of cecal content was increased (P < 0.05). 16S rRNA sequencing revealed the dietary treatment modulated the diversity and composition of cecal microflora. At the phylum level, Bacteroidetes was enriched, and Proteobacteria was depleted in the ELP group. At the genus level, ELP increased Bacteroides (P < 0.05) compared to control. The results indicate that oral delivery of probiotics via microcapsule could impart beneficial effects on birds and be used as an alternative to antibiotics.