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. 2024 Jan 20;20(1):28.
doi: 10.1186/s12917-023-03871-2.

Dietary lysozyme and avilamycin modulate gut health, immunity, and growth rate in broilers

Mervat A Abdel-Latif  1 , Hatem S Abd El-Hamid  2 , Mohamed Emam  3 , Ahmed E Noreldin  4 , Yosra A Helmy  5 , Ali H El-Far  6 , Ahmed R Elbestawy  2
Affiliations

Dietary lysozyme and avilamycin modulate gut health, immunity, and growth rate in broilers

Mervat A Abdel-Latif et al. BMC Vet Res. .

Abstract

Background: Attempts to use dietary lysozyme (LYZ) as an alternative to antibiotics in broilers have been successful, but further research is needed for effective use. Here, we compared the differences between LYZ and avilamycin (AVI) feed additives for growth performance, gut health and immunity of broilers. One-day old, one hundred and twenty broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly allocated into three groups consisting forty birds in each group. Standard diet without supplementation was applied as the control group (I), while the chicks of the other groups were supplemented with 100 mg of AVI per kg diet (AVI, group II), and 90 mg LYZ per kg diet (LYZ, group III) for five consecutive weeks.

Results: Body weight, feed conversion ratio, body weight gain, and European production efficiency factor were markedly (p < 0.05) increased in both AVI and LYZ groups in relation to CON group, but the feed intake and protein efficiency ratio were not affected. Both AVI and LYZ significantly (p < 0.001) upregulated the mRNA expression of ileal interleukin-18 (IL-18), interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), and interleukin-10 (IL-10), interleukin-2 (IL-2), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) genes compared to CON group. However, IL-2, IL-10, IL-18, and GSH-PX genes were markedly (p < 0.01) upregulated in LYZ compared to the AVI group. LYZ treated group had a significant increase (p < 0.05) in the serological haemagglutination inhibition titers of H5N1 vaccination and a significant decrease (p < 0.0001) in coliform counts compared to control and AVI groups, but all growth parameters were nearly similar between AVI and LYZ groups. The VH and VH/CD were markedly higher in LYZ than AVI and control groups.

Conclusion: Exogenous dietary lysozyme supplementation by a dose of 90 mg/kg broilers' diet induced better effects on intestinal integrity, fecal bacterial counts, immune response, and growth performance which were comparable to avilamycin. Therefore, dietary lysozyme could safely replace avilamycin in the broiler chickens' diet. However, further experimental studies regarding the use of lysozyme in commercial broilers, both in vitro and in vivo, targeting more communities of intestinal microbiome and explaining more details about its beneficial effects need to be conducted.

Keywords: Avilamycin; Broilers; Gut health; Lysozyme; Performance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors reported no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Antibody titer of H5N1 (log 2) in all groups. Statistical analysis was done by One-way ANOVA, Tukey’s post hoc test multiple comparisons. ns = nonsignificant. *p < 0.05. Error bars represent SE.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of differentially selected and expressed genes in all groups. Selected genes were IFN-γ = interferon-gamma; IL-2 = interleukin-2, IL-10 = interleukin-10, IL-18 = interleukin-18, and GSH-Px = glutathione peroxidase. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, and ****p < 0.0001. Statistical analysis was done by One-way ANOVA, Tukey’s post hoc test multiple comparisons. Error bars represent SE.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Total coliform (A, B), clostridial (C, D), and lactobacillus (E, F) counts in fecal samples. AVI, birds fed avilamycin (100 mg/kg). LYZ, birds fed lysozyme (90 mg/kg). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, and ****p < 0.0001. ns = nonsignificant. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post hoc test for multiple comparisons
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Histological examination of jejunum samples stained with H and E. (A) control, (B) AVI, and (C) LYZ. Arrows point to intestinal villi. Arrowheads point to intestinal crypts. Scale bar = 400 μm
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