Lactiplantibacillus plantarum ameliorated the negative effects of a low-protein diet on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, immune status, and gut microbiota of laying chicks

Lele HOU ^* Huiling Qiu ^* Jihong Dong ^* Huawei Liu ^* Fu Chen ^* Shansong Gao ^*

• Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China

The soybean meal feed content in traditional diet is high, the cost is high, and the intestinal tract of laying hens is short, which is easy to cause incomplete digestion, and the ammonia nitrogen content in feces is high, which is easy to cause disease problems and environmental pollution of laying hens. Most of the studies focus on the low-protein diet of laying hens, and little attention is paid to the diet of brooding hens (the protein content is as high as 19%). Therefore, the purpose of this experiment was to investigate the effects of lactobacilli on 0-21 days of age on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, immune status and intestinal microflora of egg-laying chicks fed with low protein diet (the protein content is 17%)adding Lactiplantibacillus plantarum. We found that L. plantarum supplementation increased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), and levels of immunoglobulin (Ig) A, IgG, and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in serum of 17% protein +1.0×10 9 CFU/kg L. plantarum (LPL) compared to the 19% protein group (control). Furthermore, L. plantarum supplementation increased the liver index, GSH-Px and T-AOC activity in serum, and changed the microflora structure, diversity, and polyketose unit bioanabolic metabolism of 17% protein +1.0×10 9 CFU/kg L. plantarum (LPL) compared to the 17% protein group (LP). In conclusion, L. plantarum supplementation could compensate for the adverse effects of low-protein diets in chicks, and the combination of a low-protein diet and L. plantarum is a feasible way to reduce protein in the diet.