In vivo antimicrobial potentials of garlic against Clostridium perfringens and its promotant effects on performance of broiler chickens

Medicinal Plants for Prophylaxis and Therapy of Common Infectious Diseases In Poultry-A Systematic Review of In Vivo Studies

Medicinal plants for prophylaxis and therapy of common infectious diseases in poultry have been studied for several years. The goal of this review was to systematically identify plant species and evaluate their potential in prophylaxis and therapy of common diseases in poultry caused by bacteria and gastrointestinal protozoa. The procedure followed the recommendations of the PRISMA statement and the AMSTAR measurement tool. The PICOS scheme was used to design the research questions. Two databases were consulted, and publications were manually selected, according to predefined in- and exclusion criteria. A scoring system was established to evaluate the remaining publications. Initially, 4197 identified publications were found, and 77 publications remained after manual sorting, including 38 publications with 70 experiments on bacterial infections and 39 publications with 78 experiments on gastrointestinal protozoa. In total, 83 plant species from 42 families were identified. Asteraceae and Lamiaceae were the most frequently found families with Artemisia annua being the most frequently found plant, followed by Origanum vulgare. As compared to placebo and positive or negative control groups, antimicrobial effects were found in 46 experiments, prebiotic effects in 19 experiments, and antiprotozoal effects in 47 experiments. In summary, a total of 274 positive effects predominated over 241 zero effects and 37 negative effects. Data indicate that O. vulgare, Coriandrum sativum, A. annua, and Bidens pilosa are promising plant species for prophylaxis and therapy of bacterial and protozoal diseases in poultry.

Onion leaf and synthetic additives in broiler diet: impact on splenic cytokines, serum immunoglobulins, cecal bacterial population, and muscle antioxidant status

BACKGROUND

The disadvantages associated with the use of synthetic additives in animal production could threaten human and animal health, and the safety of animal-derived foods. This study assessed the growth performance, blood chemistry, immune indices, selected caeca bacterial population, muscle antioxidant enzyme activities, and meat quality in broiler chickens fed diet supplemented with antibiotic (70% oxytetracycline +30% neomycin), tert-butylhydroxytoluene or onion leaf powder (OLP). One day old Ross 308 chicks (n = 240) were assigned randomly to either D-1, control diet (CD) without additives; D-2, CD + 0.3 g kg^-1 antibiotic +0.15 g kg^-1 tert-butylhydroxytoluene; D-3, CD + 2.5 g kg^-1 OLP; or D-4, CD + 5 g kg^-1 OLP for 42 days.

RESULTS

The D-2 and D-4 diets improved (P < 0.05) bodyweight gain and feed efficiency in broilers. Platelet and cecal Lactobacillus spp. counts were higher (P < 0.05) whereas muscle cholesterol was lower (P < 0.05) in the OLP-supplemented birds. Supplemented birds had higher (P < 0.01) splenic interleukin-10 and lower (P < 0.01) splenic tumor necrosis factor-α, immunoglobulin A, cecal E. coli and C. perfringens counts compared with the D-1 birds. The D-4 birds had the least (P < 0.05) splenic interleukin-1β. Dietary supplements increased (P < 0.05) catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and total antioxidant capacity, and lowered (P < 0.05) drip loss, malondialdehyde and carbonyl content in breast meat.

CONCLUSION

Dietary supplementation of 5 g kg^-1 OLP exerted antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, and antioxidant effects that were comparable to those of antibiotics and tert-butylhydroxytoluene in broiler chickens. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Supplementing Garlic Nanohydrogel Optimized Growth, Gastrointestinal Integrity and Economics and Ameliorated Necrotic Enteritis in Broiler Chickens Using a Clostridium perfringens Challenge Model

Necrotic enteritis (NE) caused by Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens) results in impaired bird growth performance and increased production costs. Nanotechnology application in the poultry industry to control NE outbreaks is still not completely clarified. Therefore, the efficacy of dietary garlic nano-hydrogel (G-NHG) on broilers growth performance, intestinal integrity, economic returns and its potency to alleviate C. perfringens levels using NE challenge model were addressed. A total of 1200 male broiler chicks (Ross 308) were assigned into six groups; four supplemented with 100, 200, 300 or 400 mg of G-NHG/kg diet and co-challenged with C. perfringens at 21, 22 and 23 d of age and two control groups fed basal diet with or without C. perfringens challenge. Over the total growing period, the 400 mg/kg G-NHG group had the most improved body weight gain and feed conversion efficiency regardless of challenge. Parallel with these results, the mRNA expression of genes encoding digestive enzymes (alpha 2A amylase (AMY2A), pancreatic lipase (PNLIP) and cholecystokinin (CCK)) and intestinal barriers (junctional adhesion molecule-2 (JAM-2), occludin and mucin-2 (Muc-2)) were increased in groups fed G-NHG at higher levels to be nearly similar to those in the unchallenged group. At 14 d post challenge, real-time PCR results revealed that inclusion of G-NHG led to a dose-dependently decrease in the C. perfringens population, thereby decreasing the birds' intestinal lesion score and mortality rates. Using 400 mg/kg of G-NHG remarkably ameliorated the adverse effects of NE caused by C. perfringens challenge, which contributed to better growth performance of challenged birds with rational economic benefits.

Role of Yeast and Yeast-Derived Products as Feed Additives in Broiler Nutrition

Antibiotic resistance is looming problem in broiler production globally and there has been an increasing interest to look for sustainable alternatives to antibiotics. Yeast and its derived products are recognized as potential feed additives because of their beneficial impacts on poultry. Particularly, yeast exhibited positive effects on the humoral immunity by increasing serum immunoglobulin (Ig) A levels. Moreover, yeast and its products showed immune adjuvant-like properties that helped the broilers chicken to develop faster and stronger innate immune response under pathogenic challenges. Use of yeast and its products as prebiotic/probiotic improves the gut architecture mainly by improving the gut development and gut microbiome, reduction in colonization of pathogens through competitive exclusion, binding of toxins and enhancing digestion and absorption of nutrients. These unique properties of yeast and yeast products enhance animal welfare and productivity; warrant them to be used as a promising feed additive. This article, therefore, provides insights into the functional role of yeast and its products in the broiler diets and highlights its importance as a commercially viable alternative of synthetic antibiotic growth promoters in the broiler feed industry.

Effects of antibiotic replacement with garlic powder and probiotic on performance, carcass characteristics, oxidative enzymes and intestinal morphology of broiler chickens

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of probiotic and garlic powder instead of antibiotic on performance, carcass characteristics, oxidative enzymes and intestinal morphology of broiler chickens. A total of 200 one-day-old male broiler chicks were used in a completely randomized design. The experimental groups were including control group (without any additives) or CG, antibiotic group or AG, garlic powder group or GG, probiotic group or PG and garlic powder plus probiotic group or GPG. The broilers were weighted at the end of days 10, 24 and 42 to evaluate the body performance. At the end of experiment, four broilers randomly selected from each replicate to blood sampling and carcass traits measurement (2 chickens for each one). The use of GG significantly decreased feed intake than AG (p < 0.05) which approved in GPG when probiotic added to GG (p < 0.05). All groups, exception GG showed less feed intake than CG between days 0 to 42 of experiment (p < 0.05). GPG shows significant differences than CG between days 21 to 42 and 0 to 42 and also than GG between days 0 to 42. The use of GG and GPG significantly increased liver enzyme activities (p < 0.05). AG, PG and GPG showed a higher height and width villi than CG. So simultaneous use of probiotic and garlic powder can be a suitable alternative to antibiotics to normal performance and liver function

The Genus Allium as Poultry Feed Additive: A Review

The genus Allium, belonging to the family Amaryllidaceae has been known since ancient times for their therapeutic potentials. As the number of multi-drug resistant infections has increased due to in-feed antibiotic usage in poultry, the relevance of alliums as feed additives has been critically assessed. Garlic and the other Allium species, such as onions, leek, shallot, scallion, and chives, have been characterized to contain a plethora of bioactive compounds such as organosulfur compounds, polyphenols, saponins, fructans, and fructo-oligosaccharides. Consequently, alliums have been validated to confer antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, immunostimulatory, gut homeostasis, and lipid- as well as cholesterol-lowering properties in poultry. This review intends to summarize recent progress on the use of edible alliums as poultry feed additives, their beneficial effects, and the underlying mechanisms of their involvement in poultry nutrition. Perspectives for future research and limitations are also briefly discussed.

Novel Insight from Computational Virtual Screening Depict the Binding Potential of Selected Phytotherapeutics Against Probable Drug Targets of Clostridium difficile

This study explores computational screening and molecular docking approaches to screen novel herbal therapeutics against probable drug targets of Clostridium difficile. The essential genes were predicted by comparative genome analysis of C. difficile and best homologous organisms using BLAST search at database of essential genes (DEG). The functions of these genes in various metabolic pathways were predicted and some of these genes were considered as potential targets. Three major proteins were selected as putative targets, namely permease IIC component, ABC transporter and histidine kinase. The three-dimensional structures of these targets were predicted by molecular modelling. The herbal bioactive compounds were screened by computer-aided virtual screening and binding potentials against the drug targets were predicted by molecular docking. Quercetin present in Psidium guajava (binding energy of -9.1 kcal/mol), Ellagic acid found in Punica granatum and Psidium guajava (binding energy -9.0 kcal/mol) and Curcumin, present in Curcuma longa (binding energy -7.8 kcal/mol) demonstrated minimum binding energy and more number of interacting residues with the drug targets. Further, comparative study revealed that phytoligands demonstrated better binding affinities to the drug targets in comparison with usual ligands. Thus, this investigation explores the therapeutic probabilities of selected phytoligands against the putative drug targets of C. difficile.

Effects of dietary mixture of garlic (Allium sativum), coriander (Coriandrum sativum) and probiotics on immune responses and caecal counts in young laying hens

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a combined mixture of phytogenic extracts (garlic and coriander) and probiotics on growth performance and immune responses in laying hens based on the results of in vitro studies to screen for immunomodulatory potency of each ingredient. Several parameters of immunomodulatory potency were estimated using lamina propria leucocytes (LPLs) isolated from rat intestinal mucosa tissue. Results show that the combined mixture enhanced LPLs proliferation, increased LPL-mediated cytotoxicity against YAC-1 tumour cells, and decreased lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cytokine production including tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) in LPLs. For in vivo study, laying hens (n = 50/each diet group) were fed with control diet, a diet containing antibiotics (0.01% per kg feed) or the combined mixture (0.02% per kg feed) for 21 days. The dietary combined mixture improved egg production (p < 0.05) but not growth performance and carcass traits. Interestingly, the patterns of suppressing plasma IFN-γ productions during inflammation by LPS injection and decreasing caecal E. coli counts in the combined mixture group were comparable to those in the antibiotics group. Taken together, our results suggested that the 0.02% of combined mixture of phytogenic extracts and probiotics as ingredients has potential immunomodulatory effects in laying hens.

In vitro efficacy of allicin on chicken Eimeria tenella sporozoites

Chicken coccidiosis is a major parasitic disease caused by Eimeria spp. It is controlled and treated using chemical anticoccidial agents. Development of partial or complete resistance toward these anticoccidials is considered a major problem in poultry industry. Allicin is an organosulfur compound produced as a result of the reaction between alliin and alliinase after hacking of garlic. In this study, tenfold dilution from 180 mg/ml to 1.8 ng/ml of allicin in distilled water was tested against E. tenella in vitro. The percent of inhibition in allicin was from 99.9 to 71.53% using 180 mg/ml and 180 ng/ml, respectively. The percent of inhibition was 56.24% using 1.8 ng/ml. We used allicin as a treatment from plants against chicken coccidiosis; however, in vivo study should be performed to confirm these results.