Can Enterocin M in Combination with Sage Extract Have Beneficial Effect on Microbiota, Blood Biochemistry, Phagocytic Activity and Jejunal Morphometry in Broiler Rabbits?
by
Monika Pogány Simonová 1,*
, Ľubica Chrastinová 2, Anna Kandričáková 1, Soňa Gancarčíková 3, Eva Bino 1, Iveta Plachá 1, Jana Ščerbová 1, Viola Strompfová 1, Rudolf Žitňan 2 and Andrea Lauková 1
Monika Pogány Simonová 1,*, Ľubica Chrastinová 2, Anna Kandričáková 1, Soňa Gancarčíková 3, Eva Bino 1, Iveta Plachá 1, Jana Ščerbová 1, Viola Strompfová 1, Rudolf Žitňan 2 and Andrea Lauková 1
1
Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences of Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4-6, 04001 Košice, Slovakia
2
National Agricultural and Food Centre, Hlohovecká 2, 951 41 Nitra-Lužianky, Slovakia
3
Laboratory of Gnotobiology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, Komenského 73, 041 81 Košice, Slovakia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Animals 2020, 10(1), 115; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10010115
Received: 29 November 2019 / Revised: 4 January 2020 / Accepted: 7 January 2020 / Published: 10 January 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disease and Immunology of Rabbits)
Simple Summary
The weaning period is one of the most critical phases in a rabbit’s life, when rabbits are most sensitive to various spoilage agents, often with fatal outcome. Preventing these post-weaning alimentary disturbances and improving gut health through the use of natural substances has become an area of research activity in rabbit nutrition. The possibilities of “in vivo” administration of bacteriocins in rabbits are often limited. Our study focused therefore on improving rabbits’ health using enterocin M and sage extract, alone and also in combination, mainly to determine their effect on the microbiota, phagocytic activity, serum biochemistry, and morphometry of rabbits. The antibacterial effect of both additives was observed in the gastrointestinal tract of rabbits. Several biochemical parameters (increased in total proteins (TPs) using enterocin (Ent) M, reduction of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) using sage and its hypocholesteremic effect alone and in combination with EntM, and improvement of mineral levels) were optimized. All additives, but mostly EntM, showed a tendency to improve the jejunal morphological parameters.
The present study investigated the effects of enterocin (Ent) M and sage extract alone and also in combination on the gut microflora, phagocytic activity, blood biochemistry, and morphometry of rabbits. Sixty-four rabbits (aged five weeks, M91 meatline, both sexes) were divided into three experimental groups: E (EntM; 50 µL/animal/day), S (sage; 10 µL/animal/day), and E + S (EntM + sage) groups and control group (C). The additives were administered in drinking water for a period of 21 days. Dietary supplementation of EntM and sage significantly reduced the coliforms (E: p < 0.001; S: p < 0.001; E + S: p < 0.001) in feces, while simultaneous addition of EntM and sage decreased enterococci (E + S: p < 0.0001), lactic acid bacteria (E + S: p < 0.01), and coagulase-positive staphylococci (E + S: p < 0.0001) in the appendix. Sage addition reduced HDL (S: p < 0.001) and LDL cholesterol (S: p < 0.001; E + S: p < 0.001), LDL/HDL ratio (S: p < 0.001; E + S: p < 0.01), and increased urea (S: p < 0.01; E + S: p < 0.001) and creatinine (S: p < 0.001; E + S: p < 0.001) in serum. EntM and sage application, alone or in combination, improve the jejunal morphometry (p < 0.0001) in rabbits.
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Keywords:
enterocin; microbiota; morphometry; phagocytic activity; rabbit; sage
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MDPI and ACS Style
Pogány Simonová, M.; Chrastinová, Ľ.; Kandričáková, A.; Gancarčíková, S.; Bino, E.; Plachá, I.; Ščerbová, J.; Strompfová, V.; Žitňan, R.; Lauková, A. Can Enterocin M in Combination with Sage Extract Have Beneficial Effect on Microbiota, Blood Biochemistry, Phagocytic Activity and Jejunal Morphometry in Broiler Rabbits? Animals 2020, 10, 115.
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