Oral supplementation withMC018 improves intestinal health, immune response, and growth performance of Zi geese infected withXH197291.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: infection causes severe diarrhea, decreases growth performance, and increases mortality of poultry, which imposes a significant economic burden on the poultry industry and severely limits its growth. METHODS: Here, to investigate the effects ofon the intestinal health, immune response, and growth performance of-infected goslings, we established a geese model infected with angene-carryingstrain and analyzed the probiotic characteristics of threeisolates obtained from the cecum of healthy geese. In anstudy, Zi geese were administered daily gavage ofMC006,MC013, orMC018 (10&#x202f;CFU/mL) from 1 d of age for 21 d, followed by treatment withXH197291 gavage (10&#x202f;CFU/mL) on day 8. RESULTS: The results showed thatXH197291-infected geese exhibited depression, intestinal damage, reduced average daily gain, increased feed conversion ratio, and 100% diarrhea incidence within 48&#x202f;h post-infection. Remarkably, among the threeisolates,MC018 showed the potential to function as a probiotic because of its ability to resist acid and bile degradation, antibacterial effect, and adhesion property. Notably, oral supplementation containingMC018 alleviated diarrhea and intestinal histological lesions, reducedcounts in both ileum and rectum, increased the population of lactic acid bacteria, and improved the growth performance of-infected geese. Geese treated withMC018 gavage had higher serum diamine oxidase (&#x202f;<&#x202f;0.01) and IgM (&#x202f;<&#x202f;0.05) levels than those in the model group.MC018 reduced the levels of IL-1&#x3b2;, IL-6, and TNF-in intestinal tissues followinginfection. Compared toMC013,MC018 increased the levels of ZO-1 in the duodenum and Claudin-1 in the ileum. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest thatMC018 is a promising probiotic strain for use as a potential alternative to antibiotics for controlling avian colibacillosis.