Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Physiol.
Sec. Avian Physiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1463420

The Effect of Supplemental Arginine on The Gut Microbial Homeostasis of Broilers During Sub-Clinical Necrotic Enteritis Challenge

Provisionally accepted
Shahna Fathima Shahna Fathima 1Walid G. Al Hakeem Walid G. Al Hakeem 1Revathi Shanmugasundaram Revathi Shanmugasundaram 2Jeferson M. Lourenco Jeferson M. Lourenco 1*Ramesh K. Selvaraj Ramesh K. Selvaraj 1*
  • 1 University of Georgia, Athens, United States
  • 2 U.S. National Poultry Research Center, Agricultural Research Service (USDA), Athens, Georgia, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Necrotic enteritis (NE) is an enteric disease of poultry that alters the structure of the gut microbial community causing dysbiosis. This experiment investigated the effects of 125% and 135% arginine diets on the gut microbial diversity and composition of broilers during a subclinical NE challenge. One hundred and twenty one-day-old chicks were randomly allocated to 4 treatments with six replicates each-Uninfected + Basal, NE + Basal, NE + Arg 125%, and NE + Arg 135% diet groups. NE was induced by inoculating 1×10 4 E. maxima sporulated oocysts on day 14 and 1×10 8 CFU C. perfringens on days 19, 20, and 21 of age. The NE challenge significantly decreased the number of observed amplicon sequence variants (p = 0.03), the abundance of the phylum Firmicutes (p < 0.01), and the species Mediterraneibacter cottocaccae (p = 0.01) in the ceca of birds on day 21. The NE challenge significantly increased the Bray-Curtis index (p < 0.01), and the abundance of the phylum Bacteroidota (p < 0.01), family Odoribacteraceae (p < 0.01), genus Odoribacter (p < 0.01), and species O. splanchnicus (p = 0.01) on day 21. During NE, the 125% arginine diet restored the abundance of Bacteroidota (p = 0.03), Odoribacteraceae (p = 0.03), Oscillospiraceae (p = 0.03), Odoribacter (p = 0.03), O. splanchnicus (p = 0.03), and M. cottocaccae (p < 0.01) on day 21. The 135% arginine diet effectively restored the loss in alpha diversity (p = 0.01) caused by NE, the abundance of Firmicutes (p = 0.01), Bacteroidota (p < 0.01), Oscillospiraceae (p = 0.03), Odoribacteraceae (p < 0.01), Odoribacter (p < 0.01), O. splanchnicus (p < 0.01), and M. cottocaccae (p < 0.01) on day 21. On day 28, the treatments had a significant effect on the cecal propionate (p = 0.01), butyrate (p = 0.04), and total SCFA (p = 0.04) concentrations. In conclusion, the 125% and 135% arginine diets restored gut microbial composition during a subclinical NE challenge, but not the cecal SCFA profile. Hence, arginine in combination with other feed additives could be used in restoring gut microbial homeostasis during NE in poultry.

    Keywords: nutraceutical, gut health, Gut Microbiota, broilers, Microbial homeostasis

    Received: 11 Jul 2024; Accepted: 02 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Fathima, Al Hakeem, Shanmugasundaram, Lourenco and Selvaraj. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Jeferson M. Lourenco, University of Georgia, Athens, United States
    Ramesh K. Selvaraj, University of Georgia, Athens, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.