Effect of diets containing commercial bioactive compounds on Salmonella Heidelberg infection in broiler chicks

• Published in: Brazilian journal of microbiology Vol. 54; no. 1; pp. 571 - 577
• Main Authors: Alves, Victória Veiga, Arantes, Letícia Cury Rocha Veloso, de Barros Moreira Filho, Alexandre Lemos, da Silva Teixeira, Mailson, da Silva, Eudes Fernando Alves, de Mesquita Souza Saraiva, Mauro, de Lucena, Ricardo Barbosa, Givisiez, Patrícia Emília Naves, de Oliveira, Celso José Bruno, de Freitas Neto, Oliveiro Caetano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.03.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal Feed - analysis; Animals; Atrophy; Bioactive compounds; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Birds; Capillaries; Cecum; Chickens; Chickens - microbiology; Chicks; Colonization; Congestion; Crypts; Diet; Diet - veterinary; Economic impact; Food Microbiology; Hemorrhage; Humans; Ileum; Infections; Juveniles; Lamina propria; Life Sciences; Liver; Medical Microbiology; Microbial Ecology; Microbial Genetics and Genomics; Microbiology; Mycology; Necrosis; Poultry Diseases - microbiology; Poultry farming; Public health; Salmonella; Salmonella Infections, Animal - microbiology; Sanguinarine; Small intestine; Spleen; Splenomegaly; Thickening; Veterinary Microbiology - Short Communication; Villus; XPC protein; Paratyphoid infections; Control; Salmonellosis; Histopathology; Intestinal health
• ISSN: 1517-8382; 1678-4405
• DOI: 10.1007/s42770-022-00899-8

Salmonella Heidelberg (SH) is responsible for economic losses in poultry farming and food infections in humans and is a serious public health problem. Recently, there has been an increase in the frequency of isolation of this serotype in batches of broilers raised in Brazil. It is necessary to find new ways to help control this pathogen. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of diets containing the compound Original XPC, which is a prebiotic-like fermented compound (PFC), and/or Sangrovit, which is a sanguinarine-based phytobiotic (SAN), on SH infection in broiler chicks. For this purpose, SH colonization in the cecum and its invasion into the spleen and liver were evaluated, as were the histopathological changes caused in these organs . The lowest cecal SH counts were observed in birds that ingested SAN, followed by those fed PFC ( P  < 0.05), with no added effect when the two bioproducts were used together (SAN + PFC). The mean SH and liver spleen counts did not differ between groups ( P  > 0.05). In general, birds from all groups challenged with SH showed similar macroscopic changes, such as hemorrhagic areas, hepatomegaly, and splenomegaly, such changes being more intense in the infected control group. The microscopic changes observed in the liver included hepatocyte congestion, heterophil infiltration in the sinusoid capillaries, areas of necrosis, and mononuclear inflammation. In the cecum, heterophilic infiltrate and thickening of the lamina propria were observed. In the ileum, the most common changes were congestion and thickening of the lamina propria and atrophy of the villi and crypts. The microscopic changes were less intense in the supplemented birds than the infected control group, and those supplemented with SAN developed the least changes. As ideal conditions for histomorphometric parameters of the ileum, the villus:crypt ratio in birds should be high, the villi should be long, and the crypts should be shallow. In the present study, higher mean heights and villus areas were observed in uninfected control and SAN group birds, and the crypt depth was lower in birds in the negative control group. The lowest villus:crypt ratio was observed in the birds of the infected control group. Although additional studies are needed, the preliminary results of the current investigation indicated that the addition of bioproducts, especially SAN, to the diet of birds helped to control SH infection, reducing its count in the cecum and improving overall and intestinal health.