galactomannan and Poultry-Diseases

Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis is one of the leading causes of food-borne salmonellosis in humans. Poultry is the single largest reservoir, and the consumption of incorrectly processed chicken meat and egg products is the major source of infection. Since 2006, the use of antibiotics as growth promoters has been banned in the European Union, and the dietary inclusion of β-galactomannans (βGM) has become a promising strategy to control and prevent intestinal infections. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of various βGM-rich products on intestinal morphology in chickens challenged with Salmonella Enteritidis. To assess this effect, a total of 280 male Ross 308 chickens were studied (40 animals per treatment housed in 5 cages). There were 7 treatments, including controls: uninoculated birds fed the basal diet (negative control) and inoculated birds fed the basal diet (positive control) or the basal diet supplemented with Salmosan (1 g/kg), Duraió gum (1 g/kg), Cassia gum (1 g/kg), the cell walls of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (0.5 g/kg), or the antibiotic colistine (0.8 g/kg). The birds were fed these diets from the d 1 to 23, except the animals in the colistine group, which were fed the diet containing the antibiotic only from d 5 to 11. The inoculated animals were orally infected on d 7 with 10(8) cfu of Salmonella Enteritidis. Bird performance per replicate was determined for the whole study period (23 d), and the distal ileum and cecal tonsil of 5 animals per treatment (1 animal per replicate) were observed at different magnification levels (scanning electron, light, and laser confocal microscopy). In the images corresponding to the treatments containing βGM we observed more mucus, an effect that can be associated with the observation of more goblet cells. Moreover, the images also show fewer M cells, which are characteristic of infected animals. Regarding the morphometric parameters, the animals that received Duraió and Cassia gums show greater (P = 0.001 and P = 0.016, respectively) villus length compared with the animals in the positive control, thus indicating the capacity of these products to increase epithelial surface area. However, no effect (P > 0.05) on microvillus dimensions was detected. In conclusion, the results obtained indicating the beneficial effects of these βGM on intestinal morphology give more evidence of the positive effects of these supplements in poultry nutrition.

Topics: Animal Feed; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Cecum; Chickens; Colistin; Diet; Dietary Supplements; Enteritis; Galactose; Humans; Ileum; Intestinal Mucosa; Intestines; Male; Mannans; Microvilli; Poultry Diseases; Salmonella enteritidis; Salmonella Infections, Animal

Aspergillus fumigatus remains a major respiratory pathogen in birds and treatment is still difficult. We challenged different groups of few-day-old turkeys via intratracheal aerosolisation with increasing concentrations (10(5) up to 10(8)) of conidia using a MicroSprayer(®) device. The fungal burden was assessed by real-time PCR, galactomannan dosage, CFU counting and histopathological evaluation in order to provide a comparison of these results within each inoculum groups. Significant mortality, occurring in the first 96h after inoculation, was only observed at the highest inoculum dose. Culture counts, GM index and qPCR results on the one hand and inoculum size on the other hand appeared to be clearly correlated. The mean fungal burden detected by qPCR was 1.3log10 units higher than the mean values obtained by CFU measurement. The new model and the markers will be used to evaluate the efficacy of antifungal treatments that could be used in poultry farms.

Topics: Aerosols; Animals; Aspergillosis; Aspergillus fumigatus; Colony Count, Microbial; Galactose; Mannans; Poultry Diseases; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Spores, Fungal; Survival Analysis; Turkeys

Sera samples from commercial broiler chickens and turkeys diagnosed with respiratory and disseminated aspergillosis were tested for the presence of antigen and antibody to Aspergillus. Antigen detection consisted of testing for two cell-wall components, beta-glucan and galactomannan, which have been used extensively in human medicine. There were significantly higher levels of galactomannan in all broiler chicken submissions (100%) and antibody to Aspergillus in 6 out of 9 submissions (66.6%) vs. control birds. Beta-glucan analyses did not show any differences among levels in the broiler chicken groups. There were significantly higher levels of galactomannan antigen in 4 out of 7 submissions (57.1%) of aspergillosis in commercial turkeys, while only 2 out of 7 submissions (28.5%) had higher levels of antibody to Aspergillus vs. the control group. This study shows that diagnosis of respiratory and disseminated aspergillosis may be performed by detection of galactomannan antigenemia and antibodies in broiler chickens and to an extent in turkeys.

Topics: Animals; Antibodies, Fungal; Antigens, Fungal; Aspergillosis; Aspergillus; beta-Glucans; California; Chickens; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Galactose; Mannans; Poultry Diseases; Serologic Tests; Species Specificity; Turkeys