AUTHOR=Guo Fangshen , Geng Yanqiang , Abbas Waseem , Zhen Wenrui , Wang Shuiqing , Huang Yuechuan , Guo Yuming , Ma Qiugang , Wang Zhong 

TITLE=Vitamin D3 Nutritional Status Affects Gut Health of Salmonella-Challenged Laying Hens

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.888580

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2022.888580

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Salmonella enterica</italic> serovar Enteritidis (SE) is one of the most common pathogens associated with poultry health and foodborne Salmonellosis worldwide. The gut plays a pivotal role in inhibiting SE transintestinal transmission and contaminating poultry products. The nutritional status of vitamin D (VD) is involved in gut health apart from bone health. However, the impact of VD<sub>3</sub> nutritional status on the gut health of <italic>Salmonella</italic>-challenged hens is rarely investigated. This study investigated the impact and possible mechanisms of VD<sub>3</sub> nutritional status on the gut health of hens challenged with SE. Hens were fed basal diets with either 0 (deficient) or 3000 IU (sufficient) VD<sub>3</sub>/kg of diet, respectively. After 10 weeks of feeding, half of the hens were orally inoculated with either SE (1 × 10<sup>9</sup> CFU /bird). Results indicated that VD<sub>3</sub> sufficiency reversed the disruptive effects on the laying performance of hens caused by <italic>Salmonella</italic> challenge or VD<sub>3</sub> insufficiency by promoting VD<sub>3</sub> metabolism. In addition, VD<sub>3</sub> sufficiency ameliorated gut injury induced by either <italic>Salmonella</italic> or VD<sub>3</sub> deficiency, shown by reducing <italic>Salmonella</italic> load and histopathological scores, suppressing TLR4-mediated inflammatory responses, and increasing expression of TJs along with decreasing pro-apoptotic protein expression and the number of TUNEL-positive cells in the jejunum. Besides, VD<sub>3</sub> enriched the abundance of probiotics, such as <italic>Lactobacillus</italic> and <italic>Bacilli</italic>, and restored the balance of gut microflora. Collectively, dietary VD<sub>3</sub> sufficient supplementation could alleviate <italic>Salmonella</italic> or VD<sub>3</sub> deficiency-induced intestinal damage of hens <italic>via</italic> modulating intestinal immune, barrier function, apoptosis along with gut microbiota composition, revealing that VD<sub>3</sub> could act as a novel nutritional strategy defending <italic>Salmonella</italic> invasion in hens.</p>