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Efficiency of a Lactobacillus plantarum-xylanase combination on growth performances, microflora populations, and nutrient digestibilities of broilers infected with Salmonella Typhimurium

S. Vandeplas^*,1, R. Dubois Dauphin, C. Thiry, Y. Beckers^*, G. W. Welling, P. Thonart and A. Théwis^*

^* Animal Science Unit, Gembloux Agricultural University, Passage des Déportés 2, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium; Bio-Industry Unit, Gembloux Agricultural University, Passage des Déportés 2, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium; and Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Groningen, 9713 GZ Groningen, the Netherlands

¹ Corresponding author: vandeplas.s{at}fsagx.ac.be

Three experiments were performed to assess the ability of a Lactobacillus plantarum probiotic combined with a xylanase to reduce the effects of Salmonella Typhimurium infection in broiler chickens from 1 to 30 or 42 d of age. Chicks were challenged at 3 d of age with 10⁸ or 10⁵ cfu Salmonella Typhimurium/chick. Four diets were studied: a wheat-based diet (C+) supplemented with 0.1 g/kg of xylanase (E) or 10⁶ cfu/g of L. plantarum (P), or both (PE). Uninfected chicks fed the C diet were used as negative control (C–). Six or 8 chicks were housed per cage with 9 cages/treatment. Growth performance and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were recorded weekly. In experiment 1, bacterial enumeration in ceca was achieved using the fluorescent in situ hybridization technique. Salmonella enumeration was realized in excreta by microbiological cultures (experiments 2 and 3). Nutrient digestibilities and AME_n were determined in experiment 3 from d 35 to 39. Infection with Salmonella Typhimurium led to a significant decrease in the daily weight gain (DWG) by 23.6 to 32.8%, whereas FCR was increased by 1.0 to 19.7%. Chickens fed the PE diet showed significantly improved performance in comparison with C+ birds (DWG: +12.5% in experiment 1; FCR: –2.1 to 8.6%), and in comparison with the P and E treatments (DWG: +6.3 to 8.3% in experiment 1; FCR: –2.7 to 6.4%). In experiment 3, the FCR was significantly improved by 3% with the PE diet in comparison with C– chickens. The PE combination tended to restore a microflora similar to that of uninfected broilers, whereas the P and E diets had less of an effect on the profile of bacterial communities. At slaughter age, Salmonella contamination was reduced by 2.00 and 1.85 log colony-forming units for the E and PE treatment, respectively. The PE diet significantly reduced the crude fat digestibility by 9.2%, in comparison with the C+ chickens. These results suggest that the combination between L. plantarum and a xylanase as feed additive could be effective for reduction of the detrimental effect after Salmonella Typhimurium infection of broilers.

Key Words: probiotic • xylanase • cecal microflora • Salmonella • broiler