Dietary supplementation with probiotics increases growth performance, improves the intestinal mucosal barrier and activates the Wnt/β‐catenin pathway activity in chicks

作者：Di‐qing Tong, Zhu-jin Lu, Nan Zeng, Xiuqi Wang, Hui‐chao Yan, Chun‐qi Gao · 发表于：Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1002/jsfa.12562 · 被引用次数：20 · 研究领域：Animal Nutrition and Physiology、Gut microbiota and health、Polysaccharides and Plant Cell Walls

Abstract Background Probiotics comprise effective feed additives that can replace antibiotics in animal livestock production. However, mono‐strain probiotics appear less effective because of their instability. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate dietary supplementation with compound probiotics (CPP) on growth performance, diarrhea rate and intestinal mucosal barrier, as well as the possible molecular mechanism, in chicks. In total, 360 1‐day‐old chicks of the Hy‐Line Brown Chicks were randomly divided into the control group (CON, basal diet), chlortetracycline group (500 mg kg −1 CTC) and compound probiotics group (1000 mg kg −1 CPP, consisting of Bacillus subtilis , Bacillus licheniformis , Enterococcus faecium and yeast). The experiment period was 56 days. Results The results showed that, in comparison with the CON group, CPP significantly increased the average daily feed intake and average daily gain of chicks and reduced diarrhea ( P < 0.05). The probiotic group exhibited increased immune organ (i.e. spleen and thymus) mass and increased levels of serum immunoglobulin (Ig)A, IgM and IgG ( P < 0.05) compared to the CTC group. In addition, the jejunal mass and morphology were improved in the probiotic group ( P < 0.05). Moreover, CPP reinforced jejunal barrier function, as indicated by increased transepithelial electrical resistance, protein expression of occludin and claudin‐1, and diamine oxidase levels in the jejunum ( P < 0.05). Likewise, enhan...