The effect of humic substances on gut microbiota and immune response of broilers
Dagmar Mudroňová, Viera Karaffová, T. Pešulová, Jana Koščová, Ivana Cingeľová Maruščáková, Martin Bartkovský, Dana Marcinčáková, Zuzana Ševčíková, Slavomír Marcinčák
Abstract
The work focused on the study of the immunomodulatory and gut-protecting effect of humic substances (HS) in broilers. The diet of experimental chicks was enriched with 0.8% of HS. We noted that HS had a stimulatory effect on the phagocytic activity and the engulfing capacity of phagocytes, however, the level of oxidative burst of phagocytes was not affected. We observed a significant increase of CD4+: CD8+ lymphocyte ratio, an indicator of immune stimulation. HS did not influence the IgA gene expression. In contrast, we observed a significant increase in the expression of MUC-2 (intestinal mucin 2) gene, and a decrease in the expression of IGF-2 (insulin-like growth factor 2) and also AvBD2 (avian beta defensin 2) genes. A decreased Enterobacteriaceae counts in the gut of experimental animals showed a positive effect on intestinal microbiota. We confirmed a gut-protecting and an immunostimulatory effect of HS in broiler chickens.