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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.

Sec. Veterinary Infectious Diseases

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1654028

Impact of in ovo and water supplementation of postbiotic on intestinal integrity and immune responses of broiler chickens to necrotic enteritis

Provisionally accepted
  • 1Avian Immunobiology Laboratory, Department of Poultry Science, University of Georgia, Athens, United States
  • 2Department of Animal Nutrition & Nutritional Diseases, Ankara Universitesi, Ankara, Türkiye

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

Necrotic enteritis (NE) is an enterotoxemic disease of poultry caused by Clostridium perfringens and inflicts substantial economic losses to the poultry industry. Postbiotics have emerged as a promising mitigation approach for NE as they can improve birds' performance and nutrient absorption, and reduce NE-associated pathology. This study evaluated the effects of in ovo and post-hatch application of a postbiotic on intestinal health and response of broilers during a subclinical NE challenge. At embryonic day (d) 18, fertile broiler eggs were injected with 0.2 mL of either water or postbiotic into the amnion. Male hatchlings (n=288) were randomly assigned to one of four groups (6 replicate cages, 12 birds/cage): 1) NC (in ovo water, no challenge); 2) PIW (postbiotic in ovo and in drinking water, no challenge); 3) NC+ (NC with NE challenge); or 4) PIW+ (PIW with NE challenge). On d 14, all birds in the NE-challenged groups were orally gavaged with 3,000 E. maxima sporulated oocysts followed by two doses of ~1×10 8 CFU/mL/bird of C. perfringens on d 19 and d 20. Intestinal permeability, jejunum and ileum histomorphology, and mRNA abundance of gut health and immune response related genes in the jejunum, ileum, and cecal tonsils (CT) were assessed. Data were analyzed by student's t-test and two-way ANOVA with significance set at P ≤ 0.05. On d 14, PIW birds had a lower crypt depth (CD) and a higher villus height-to-crypt depth (VH:CD) ratio in the jejunum. Additionally, mRNA abundance of mucin-2 and olfactomedin-4 was greater in PIW birds, while the levels of TNF-α, iNOS, IFN-γ, and IL-10 were lower compared to the NC group. On d 21, intestinal permeability was not significantly affected, while postbiotic supplementation resulted in better villi and crypt structures as manifested by a higher VH:CD ratio. Furthermore, NE-challenged birds with postbiotic supplementation had a greater mRNA abundance of ZO-1, TNF-α in jejunum, and iNOS in CT compared to NE challenged control group. In conclusion, the supplementation of postbiotic in ovo and in drinking water presents a potential to improve intestinal health and regulate immune response during a subclinical NE challenge.

Keywords: Postbiotic, necrotic enteritis, stem cell, Immunity, in ovo

Received: 25 Jun 2025; Accepted: 30 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Dong, Calik and Dalloul. 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: Rami A Dalloul, Avian Immunobiology Laboratory, Department of Poultry Science, University of Georgia, Athens, United States

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