Effects of butyric acid glycerol ester supplementation on intestinal nutrient transporter and immune-related genes in broiler chickens challenged with.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Coccidiosis negatively affects intestinal health and digestive functions; however, whether butyric acid glycerol ester (BE) can mitigate these negative effects in broiler chickens is unknown. The study objective was to determine the effects of BE on nutrient transporter and intestinal immune genes in chickens infected with(EM). METHODS: Ross male 708 chicks were fed diets supplemented with 0 (control, C) or 0.25% of BE. On day 21, half the chickens from each feeding group were infected with 0 or 10EM sporulated oocysts creating four treatment groups (C, +EM, +BE, and BE + EM;= 6/treatment group). Jejunal and ileal tissues were collected at days 7 and 10 post-infection (PI). RESULTS: EM infection reduced (≤ 0.02) nutrient transporter genes°, andat days 7 PI in the jejunum and ileum and, and°at day 10 PI in the jejunum. The supplementation of BE increasedin the jejunum and, and(≤ 0.04) in the ileum at day 10 PI. A BE x EM interaction was observed (≤ 0.02) whereandwere increased in the jejunum of +BE compared to C chickens at day 10 PI. Among the immune-related genes, EM reduced (≤ 0.0001)in the jejunum but increased (= 0.004)βin the jejunum and ileum at day 7 PI. The expression ofwas reduced, whileandwere increased in +EM compared to C chickens at day 7 PI. In addition,was increased (= 0.01) in the ileum of +BE compared to C chickens at day 10 PI. CONCLUSION: The results of the study confirmed thatreduced nutrient transporters and immune-related genes in the jejunum and ileum of chickens. However, although BE increased the expression of some genes in non-challenged chickens, its supplementation did not prevent the reduction in the expression of selected genes caused by EM infection.