A Review of the Effects and Production of Spore-Forming Probiotics for Poultry

Simple Summary

Spore-forming probiotics are widely used in the poultry industry for their beneficial impact on host health. The main feature that separates spore-forming probiotics from the more common lactic acid probiotics is their high resistance to external and internal factors, resulting in higher viability in the host and correspondingly, greater efficiency. Their most important effect is the ability to confront pathogens, which makes them a perfect substitute for antibiotics. In this review, we cover and discuss the interactions of spore-forming probiotic bacteria with poultry as the host, their health promotion effects and mechanisms of action, impact on poultry productivity parameters, and ways to manufacture the probiotic formulation. The key focus of this review is the lack of reproducibility in poultry research studies on the evaluation of probiotics’ effects, which should be solved by developing and publishing a set of standard protocols in the professional community for conducting probiotic trials in poultry.

Abstract

One of the main problems in the poultry industry is the search for a viable replacement for antibiotic growth promoters. This issue requires a “one health” approach because the uncontrolled use of antibiotics in poultry can lead to the development of antimicrobial resistance, which is a concern not only in animals, but for humans as well. One of the promising ways to overcome this challenge is found in probiotics due to their wide range of features and mechanisms of action for health promotion. Moreover, spore-forming probiotics are suitable for use in the poultry industry because of their unique ability, encapsulation, granting them protection from the harshest conditions and resulting in improved availability for hosts’ organisms. This review summarizes the information on gastrointestinal tract microbiota of poultry and their interaction with commensal and probiotic spore-forming bacteria. One of the most important topics of this review is the absence of uniformity in spore-forming probiotic trials in poultry. In our opinion, this problem can be solved by the creation of standards and checklists for these kinds of trials such as those used for pre-clinical and clinical trials in human medicine. Last but not least, this review covers problems and challenges related to spore-forming probiotic manufacturing.

Nutritional modulation of fertility in male poultry

The increased consumption of protein derived from poultry demands greater poultry production, but increased poultry production (meat and eggs) is dependent on the fertility of the parent flocks. Clearly, the fertility of poultry flocks is associated with the fertility of both males and females, but the low numbers of males used for natural or artificial insemination mean that their role is more important. Thus, enhancing the semen volume, sperm concentration, viability, forward motility, and polyunsaturated fatty acids in sperm, as well as protecting against oxidative damage, could help to optimize the sperm membrane functionality, mitochondrial activity, and sperm-egg penetration, and thus fertility. Therefore, this review summarizes the nutritional factors that could improve the fertility of poultry males as well as their associated mechanisms to allow poultry producers to overcome low-fertility problems, especially in aging poultry males, thereby obtaining beneficial impacts on the poultry production industry.

Probiotics Dietary Supplementation for Modulating Endocrine and Fertility Microbiota Dysbiosis

Human microbiota seems to play a key role in endocrine and reproductive systems. Fortunately, microbiota reproductive dysbiosis start to be treated by probiotics using typical species from genus Lactobacillus. This work presents the compiled and analysed results from the most up-to-date information from clinical trials regarding microbiota, fertility, probiotics and oral route administration, reviewing open access scientific documents. These studies analyse the clinical impact of probiotics administered on several endocrine disorders' manifestations in women: mastitis; vaginal dysbiosis; pregnancy complication disorders; and polycystic ovary syndrome. In all cases, the clinical modulation achieved by probiotics was evaluated positively through the improvement of specific disease outcomes with the exception of the pregnancy disorders studies, where the sample sizes results were statistically insufficient. High amounts of studies were discarded because no data were provided on specific probiotic strains, doses, impact on the individual autochthon microbiota, or data regarding specific hormonal values modifications and endocrine regulation effects. However, most of the selected studies with probiotics contained no protocolised administration. Therefore, we consider that intervention studies with probiotics might allocate the focus, not only in obtaining a final outcome, but in how to personalise the administration according to the disorder to be palliated.