2 research outputs found
In ovo injection of a galacto-oligosaccharide prebiotic in broiler chickens submitted to heat-stress: Impact on transcriptomic profile and plasma immune parameters.
This study investigated the effects of a galactooligosaccharide (GOS) prebiotic in ovo
injected on intestinal transcriptome and plasma immune parameters of broiler chickens kept under
thermoneutral (TN) or heat stress (HS) conditions. Fertilized Ross 308 eggs were injected in ovo with
0.2 mL physiological saline without (control, CON) or with 3.5 mg of GOS (GOS). Three-hundred
male chicks/injection treatment (25 birds/pen) were kept in TN or HS (30\ub0 C) conditions during the
last growing phase, in a 2 x 2 factorial design. At slaughter, from 20 birds/injection group (half from
TN and half from HS), jejunum and cecum were collected for transcriptome analysis, and plasma was
collected. No differences in plasma parameters (IgA and IgG, serum amyloid) and no interaction
between injection treatment and environment condition were found. GOS-enriched gene sets related
to energetic metabolism in jejunum, and to lipid metabolism in cecum, were involved in gut barrier
maintenance. A homogeneous reaction to heat stress was determined along the gut, which showed
downregulation of the genes related to energy and immunity, irrespective of in ovo treatment. GOS
efficacy in counteracting heat stress was scarce after ten days of environmental treatment, but the in
ovo supplementation modulates group of genes in jejunum and cecum of broiler chickens