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Selenium-enriched Bacillus subtilis Improves Growth Performance, Antioxidant Capacity, Immune Status, and Gut Health of Broiler Chickens

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Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effects of selenium (Se)-enriched Bacillus subtilis (Se-BS) on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, immune status, and gut health in broilers. A total of 240 one-day-old Arbor Acres broilers were randomly allotted to four groups and fed with basal diet (control group), 0.30 mg/kg Se (SS group), 3 × 109 CFU/g B. subtilis (BS group), and 0.30 mg/kg Se + 3 × 109 CFU/g B. subtilis (Se-BS group) for 42 days. The results showed that Se-BS supplementation increased body weight (BW), average daily gain, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), and the contents of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, and immunoglobulin (Ig) G in plasma, the index and wall thickness of the duodenum, the villus height and crypt depth of the jejunum, and GPx-1 and thioredoxin reductase 1 mRNA levels in liver and intestine and decreased feed conversion ratio (FCR) and plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) content compared with the control group on day 42 (P < 0.05). Compared with groups SS and BS, Se-BS supplementation increased BW, the activities of GPx, CAT, and POD, and the contents of IL-2, IL-4, and IgG in plasma, the index and wall thickness of the duodenum, the crypt depth and secretory IgA content of the jejunum, and GPx-1 mRNA levels in liver and intestine and decreased FCR and plasma MDA content on day 42 (P < 0.05). In conclusion, Se-BS supplementation effectively improved the growth performance antioxidant capacity, immune status, and gut health of broilers.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Shandong Natural Science Foundation (ZR2021MC150), Shandong Science and Technology Small and Medium Enterprises Innovation Ability Improvement Project (2021tsgc1303), Qingdao Science and Technology Benefit the People Demonstration and Guidance Project (22-3-7-xdny-11-nsh), and Shandong Modern Agricultural Technology and Industry System, China (SDAIT-11-07).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Haidu College, Qingdao Agricultural University, Laiyang, 265200, Shandong Province, China

    Huiling Qiu

  2. Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Poisoning Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, Shandong Province, China

    Huiling Qiu, Shansong Gao, Lele Hou, Anping Li, Lian-qin Zhu, Jihong Dong & Fu Chen

  3. DSM (China) Co. LTD, Beijing, 100027, China

    Anping Li

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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Materials preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Huiling Qiu, Shansong Gao, Lele Hou, and Fu Chen. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Huiling Qiu, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Fu Chen.

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Qiu, H., Gao, S., Hou, L. et al. Selenium-enriched Bacillus subtilis Improves Growth Performance, Antioxidant Capacity, Immune Status, and Gut Health of Broiler Chickens. Biol Trace Elem Res 201, 5756–5763 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-023-03610-6

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