Effects of a Lactobacillus salivarius mixture on performance, intestinal health and serum lipids of broiler chickens
May
Effects of a Lactobacillus salivarius mixture on performance, intestinal health and serum lipids of broiler chickens
Parisa Shokryazdan 0 1 2
Mohammad Faseleh Jahromi 0 1 2
Juan Boo Liang 0 1 2
Kalavathy Ramasamy 0 2
Chin Chin Sieo 0 2
Yin Wan Ho 0 2
0 a Current address: Agriculture Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran (ABRII) , East and North-East Branch, Mashhad , Iran ¤b Current address: Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences , Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM, Serdang, Selangor , Malaysia
1 Institute of Tropical Agriculture , Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM, Serdang, Selangor , Malaysia , 2 Faculty of Pharmacy , Universiti Teknologi MARA, Puncak Alam, Selangor , Malaysia , 3 Institute of Bioscience , Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM, Serdang, Selangor , Malaysia
2 Editor: Francesco Cappello, University of Palermo , ITALY
The ban or severe restriction on the use of antibiotics in poultry feeds to promote growth has led to considerable interest to find alternative approaches. Probiotics have been considered as such alternatives. In the present study, the effects of a Lactobacillus mixture composed from three previously isolated Lactobacillus salivarius strains (CI1, CI2 and CI3) from chicken intestines on performance, intestinal health status and serum lipids of broiler chickens has been evaluated. Supplementation of the mixture at a concentration of 0.5 or 1 g kg-1 of diet to broilers for 42 days improved body weight, body weight gain and FCR, reduced total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides, increased populations of beneficial bacteria such as lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, decreased harmful bacteria such as E. coli and total aerobes, reduced harmful cecal bacterial enzymes such as β-glucosidase and β-glucuronidase, and improved intestinal histomorphology of broilers. Because of its remarkable efficacy on broiler chickens, the L. salivarius mixture could be considered as a good potential probiotic for chickens, and its benefits should be further evaluated on a commercial scale.
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Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are
within the paper.
Funding: This study was supported by the LRGS
Fasa 1/2012 (Universiti Putra Malaysia) provided
by the Ministry of Education, Malaysia.
Competing interests: The authors have declared
that no competing interests exist.
Introduction
The use of probiotics as an alternative to antibiotic growth promoters has attracted
considerable interest due to its beneficial impacts on the health, performance and productivity of
chickens [
1,2,3,4,5
]. Probiotics or direct-fed microbials are `live microbial supplements which
beneficially affect the health of the host animal by improving its intestinal microbial balance'
[
6
].
Lactic acid bacteria, particularly Lactobacillus strains, are frequently used as probiotics [
7
].
Lactobacillus strains have a high ability to attach to the intestinal epithelium and are able to
establish in the chicken intestine within a day after hatching [
8
], so they are considered to be
normal bacterial flora of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of chickens [
9
]. Bacterial strains used
as probiotics for animals should be isolated from the natural GIT microflora of the same type
of animal in order to have more specific application [
9
].
Although different probiotics may be developed for different purposes, a potential probiotic
strain intended for chickens mostly is developed towards improving the performance, general
health and productivity of chickens, which are usually achieved by affecting intestinal
microbial populations, serum lipids and intestinal morphology [
1,5,10,11,12
]. It has been reported
that probiotic strains can help to maintain the microbial balance in the GIT as well as make
changes in the composition of the intestinal microflora by increasing beneficial bacteria and
decreasing harmful pathogens [13]. This could be due to competitive exclusion by competing
for nutrients and attachment sites on the intestinal epithelial wall, or production of
antimicrobial substances by probiotic strains or a synergy of both actions [
6,11,14,15
].
In terms of cholesterol lowering effects of probiotics, several mechanisms have been
proposed, which are based on reduction of cholesterol synthesis or increase in degradation and
excretion of cholesterol [
16
]. It has been also reported that some probiotic strains with BSH
activity are able to reduce serum cholesterol through deconjugation of bile salts [
17
]. In
addition, some probiotic cultures have been reported to be able of improving the morphology of
chicken intestine toward increasing nutrient absorption and endogenous digestive enzymes
secretion surface [
18,19
].
On the other hand, in terms of safety aspects, potential probiotic strains must not produce
harmful toxic enzymes such as β-glucosidase and β-glucuronidase, which can cause toxic
compounds being released in the colon.
In an earlier study [
20
], we have isolated se (...truncated)