Effects of delayed feeding, sodium butyrate and glutamine on intestinal permeability in newly-hatched broiler chickens

The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of delayed feeding, and supplementation with sodium butyrate or glutamine in drinking water, on intestinal permeability (IP) in young broiler chickens. Newly-hatched male chickens (Ross 308) were allocated to four groups comprising Control, 24 h delayed fed (DF), DF supplemented with sodium butyrate (0.1%) in the drinking water and DF supplemented with glutamine (1%) in the drinking water. On days 2, 4 and 7, twelve birds per group were randomly selected, weighed and orally gavaged with fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran (FITC-d) at 2.2 mg / ml / chicken. Serum FITC-d concentration was analysed by spectrophotometry while serum diamine oxidase and D-lactic acid concentrations were analysed by microplate reader. FITC-d concentrations in the Control and DF groups were not statistically different on any day, suggesting that delayed feeding did not affect IP. Additionally, sodium butyrate increased IP compared to DF and Control on day 2 only (p

Rise in DPA Following SDA-Rich Dietary Echium Oil Less Effective in Affording Anti-Arrhythmic Actions Compared to High DHA Levels Achieved with Fish Oil in Sprague-Dawley Rats

Stearidonic acid (SDA; C18:4n-3) has been suggested as an alternative to fish oil (FO) for delivering health benefits of C ≥ 20 long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC n-3 PUFA). Echium oil (EO) represents a non-genetically-modified source of SDA available commercially. This study compared EO and FO in relation to alterations in plasma and tissue fatty acids, and for their ability to afford protection against ischemia-induced cardiac arrhythmia and ventricular fibrillation (VF). Rats were fed (12 weeks) diets supplemented with either EO or FO at three dose levels (1, 3 and 5% w/w; n = 18 per group). EO failed to influence C22:6n-3 (DHA) but increased C22:5n-3 (DPA) in tissues dose-dependently, especially in heart tissue. Conversely, DHA in hearts of FO rats showed dose-related elevation; 14.8%–24.1% of total fatty acids. Kidney showed resistance for incorporation of LC n-3 PUFA. Overall, FO provided greater cardioprotection than EO. At the highest dose level, FO rats displayed lower (p < 0.05) episodes of VF% (29% vs. 73%) and duration (22.7 ± 12.0 vs. 75.8 ± 17.1 s) than the EO group but at 3% EO was comparable to FO. We conclude that there is no endogenous conversion of SDA to DHA, and that DPA may be associated with limited cardiac benefit

Mucin Gene mRNA Levels in Broilers Challenged with 'Eimeria' and/or 'Clostridium perfringens'

The effects of 'Eimeria' (EM) and 'Clostridium perfringens' (CP) challenges on the mRNA levels of genes involved in mucin (Muc) synthesis (Muc2, Muc5ac, Muc13, and trefoil family factor-2 [TFF2]), inflammation (tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α] and interleukin-18 [IL-18]), and metabolic processes (cluster of differentiation [CD]36) in the jejunum of broilers were investigated. Two parallel experiments involving 1) EM challenge and 2) EM and CP challenges were conducted. The first experiment was a 2 x 2 study with 12 birds per treatment (N 5 48) involving fishmeal substitution (25%) in the diet (FM) and EM challenge. The treatments were: Control (FM2, EM2), Fishmeal (FM+, EM2), EM challenge (FM2, EM+), and fishmeal substitution and EM challenge (FM+, EM+). The second experiment was a 2 x 2 x 2 experiment with six birds per treatment (N = 5 48) involving fishmeal (FM2, FM+), 'Eimeria' (EM2, EM+), and 'C. perfringens' (CP2, CP+). In both arms of the study, male broilers were given a starter diet for the whole period of 16 days, except those assigned to FM+, where 25% of the starter ration was replaced with fishmeal from days 8 to 14. EM inoculation was performed on day 9 and CP inoculation on days 14 and 15. The EM challenge birds were euthanatized for sampling on day 13; postmortem examination and sampling for the 'Eimeria' plus 'C. perfringens' challenge arm of the study were on day 16. In the 'Eimeria' challenge arm of the study, fishmeal supplementation significantly suppressed the mRNA levels of TNF-α, TFF2, and IL-18 pre-CP inoculation but simultaneously increased the levels of Muc13 and CD36 mRNAs. Birds challenged with Eimeria exhibited increased mRNA levels of Muc13, Muc5ac, TNF-a, and IL-18. In the 'Eimeria' and 'C. perfringens' challenge arm, birds exposed to EM challenge exhibited significantly lower mRNA levels of Muc2 and CD36. The mRNA levels of CD36 were also significantly suppressed by CP challenge. Our results showed that the transcription of mucin synthesis genes in the jejunum of broilers is modulated by fishmeal inclusion in the diet. Furthermore, we show for the first time suppression of CD36 mRNA levels in the intestine of broilers challenged with 'Eimeria' or 'C. perfringens'

Effects of delayed feeding, sodium butyrate and glutamine on intestinal permeability in newly-hatched broiler chickens

The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of delayed feeding, and supplementation with sodium butyrate or glutamine in drinking water, on intestinal permeability (IP) in young broiler chickens. Newly-hatched male chickens (Ross 308) were allocated to four groups comprising Control, 24 h delayed fed (DF), DF supplemented with sodium butyrate (0.1%) in the drinking water and DF supplemented with glutamine (1%) in the drinking water. On days 2, 4 and 7, twelve birds per group were randomly selected, weighed and orally gavaged with fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran (FITC-d) at 2.2 mg / ml / chicken. Serum FITC-d concentration was analysed by spectrophotometry while serum diamine oxidase and d-lactic acid concentrations were analysed by microplate reader. FITC-d concentrations in the Control and DF groups were not statistically different on any day, suggesting that delayed feeding did not affect IP. Additionally, sodium butyrate increased IP compared to DF and Control on day 2 only (p < 0.05), while glutamine increased IP on all days, compared to DF and Control (p < 0.05). Diamine oxidase and d-lactic acid concentrations of all groups were not statistically different