-
Frontiers in Microbiology 2019Understanding the differences in microbial communities shaped by different food selective forces, especially during early post-hatch period, is critical to gain insight...
Selectived and Reshaped Early Dominant Microbial Community in the Cecum With Similar Proportions and Better Homogenization and Species Diversity Due to Organic Acids as AGP Alternatives Mediate Their Effects on Broilers Growth.
Understanding the differences in microbial communities shaped by different food selective forces, especially during early post-hatch period, is critical to gain insight into how to select, evaluate, and improve antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) alternatives in food animals. As a model system, commercial diet-administered OAs (DOAs) and water-administered OAs (WOAs) were used separately or in combination as Virginiamycin alternatives for broiler feeding during two growth phases: 1-21 days and 22-42 days. Among these three OA-treated groups, the DOA group was most similar to the AGP group in the composition and the proportion of these dominant bacterial communities at the level of phylum, family, and genus in cecal chyme of broilers. Sub-therapeutic Virginiamycin decreased the richness, homogenization, and species diversity of gut microbiota, especially in the early growth stage from days 1 to 21. Among these three OA supplementation schemes, it was clear that DOA supplementation was more likely to increase or maintain the richness, homogenization, species diversity, and predicted gene functions of cecal microbiota in treated broilers than either no supplementation or AGP supplementation during two experimental stages. The interference of DOA treatment with early colonization of probiotics and pathogens in broiler cecum was the most similar to AGP treatment, and OAs did not cause the occurrence of Virginiamycin-resistant strains of at the end of this trial. In terms of the predicted gene functions of the microbiota, AGP and DOA treatments provided a similar selective force for microbial metabolism functions in the cecum of broiler chickens, especially in the early growth stage. Noticeably, the relative abundance of some microbiome that was modified by Virginiamycin or DOA supplementation was significantly correlated with body weight gain and KEGG pathway analysis-annotated gene functions such as replication and repair, translation, nucleotide metabolism, and so on. With the comprehensive analysis of these results and practical application, shortened DOA supplementation, after optimization of the amount of addition, would be a suitable alternative to sub-therapeutic Virginiamycin. It was suggested that the programed intestinal microecology under such early selection forces and the effective addition time may be the key elements to focus on the designed alternate strategies of AGPs in food animals.
PubMed: 31993028
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.02948 -
Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2023Feedlot cattle are usually adapted to high-concentrate diets containing sodium monensin (MON) in more than 14 days. However, considering that the dry matter intake DMI...
Shortening the adaptation of Nellore cattle to high-concentrate diets using only virginiamycin as sole feed additive negatively impacts ruminal fermentation and nutrient utilization.
Feedlot cattle are usually adapted to high-concentrate diets containing sodium monensin (MON) in more than 14 days. However, considering that the dry matter intake DMI is usually lower during adaptation when compared to the finishing period, the use of MON during adaptation may decrease even further the DMI, and virginiamycin (VM) may be an alternative. This study was designed to investigate the effects of shortening the adaptation length from 14 to 9 or 6 days on ruminal metabolism, feeding behavior, and nutrient digestibility of Nellore cattle fed high-concentrate diets containing only VM as the sole feed additive. The experimental design was a 5 × 5 Latin square, where each period lasted 21 days. Five 17 mo-old Nellore yearling bulls were used (415 ± 22 kg of body weight), which were assigned to five treatments: (1) MON (30 mg/kg) and adaptation for 14 days; (2) MON (30 mg/kg) + VM (25 mg/kg) and adaptation for 14 days; (3) VM (25 mg/kg) and adaptation for 14 days; (4) VM (25 mg/kg) and adaptation for 9 days, and (5) VM (25 mg/kg) and adaptation for 6 days. A quadratic effect for adaptation length when only VM was fed was observed for mean pH ( = 0.03), duration of pH below 5.2 ( = 0.01) and 6.2 ( = 0.01), where cattle consuming VM adapted for 9 days had higher mean pH and shorter period of pH below 5.2 and 6.2. Cattle that consumed only MON had a lower concentration of butyrate ( = 0.02) and a higher concentration of propionate ( = 0.04) when compared to those consuming VM and adapted for 14 days. As the adaptation length decreased for animals consuming only VM, the rumen degradability of dry matter ( < 0.01), neutral detergent fiber ( < 0.01), and starch ( < 0.01) decreased; however, protozoa numbers of and total protozoa increased. It is not recommended to shorten the adaptation length of these animals to either 6 or 9 days without negatively impacting nutrient disappearance and ruminal fermentation patterns.
PubMed: 37065251
DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1089903 -
Food Additives & Contaminants. Part A,... Aug 2020A liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) method was developed and validated for the determination of residual peptide antibiotics (bacitracin...
A liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) method was developed and validated for the determination of residual peptide antibiotics (bacitracin A, colistin A and B, enramycin A and B, virginiamycin M1 and S1) in bovine milk. LC-HRMS accurate mass data provided the necessary selectivity and sensitivity to quantitate and identify these important antibiotics in milk at residue levels without extensive sample preparation. Milk samples were extracted using 0.3% formic acid in acetonitrile with 0.06% trifluoroacetic acid added to improve peptide recoveries. Sample clean-up was minimal with an aliquot of the extract evaporated and reconstituted in a formic acid/water-acetonitrile mixture and then filtered. LC separation was performed with 0.3% formic acid in the gradient to improve the peak shape and reproducibility of the peptide analytes. A Quadruple-Orbitrap HRMS instrument with full-scan MS1 data collection followed by all-ion-fragmentation was used to obtain the exact mass of the precursor and confirmatory product ions. One advantage of LC-HRMS is that a combination of multiple precursor ions, including different charge states or adducts, can be used for quantification. The method was validated at four concentration levels ranging from 12.5 to 200 ng/g in three types of bovine milk. For bacitracin A, colistins and enramycins, the average recoveries compared to solvent standards ranged between 70% and 120%. Average recoveries for virginiamycin residues in milk extracts were unacceptably high (up to 138%) using solvent standards, but recoveries using matrix-matched calibration were determined to be 90-115%. Matrix effects were found to be less than 25% for the other analytes when internal standard correction was used for the colistins. Intra-day relative standard deviations were generally below 15%. The method detection limits for the peptide antibiotic residues in milk (0.5 to 5.5 ng/g) were well below regulatory levels of concern.
Topics: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Cattle; Chromatography, Liquid; Drug Residues; Mass Spectrometry; Milk; Peptides
PubMed: 32522108
DOI: 10.1080/19440049.2020.1766703 -
Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2022A study was conducted to evaluate performance, eggshell quality, nutrient metabolizability, and incubation traits of laying breeder hens fed diets supplemented with an...
A study was conducted to evaluate performance, eggshell quality, nutrient metabolizability, and incubation traits of laying breeder hens fed diets supplemented with an additive containing polyphenols and saponins of a proprietary blend from and (QY) biomass. Hens were fed 4 feeds in 5 periods of 28 days each from 30 to 49 weeks of age. Experimental feeds were a Control diet; Control + virginiamycin (33 g/ton); Control + QY (250 g/ton) and Control + virginiamycin + QY. A total of 40 White Plymouth Rock and 44 Rhode Island Red breeder hens were allocated in individual cages using a completely randomized block design with 21 replicates. Performance parameters, evaluated per period, were egg production, egg weight, FCR, egg mass, and culled eggs. All eggs were collected in the last 4 days of each period to evaluate specific egg weight, percentage of albumen, yolk and shell, and Haugh unit as well as cuticle quality, shell strength, and shell thickness. At the end of the experiment, nutrient metabolizability assessment and four incubations were conducted. There were no interactions between diet and period in all evaluated responses ( > 0.05). Experimental diets did not affect daily egg production, egg weight, and egg mass as well as Haugh unit, yolk and albumen percentage, and yolk color ( > 0.05). However, hens fed Control + QY produced eggs with better shell strength, shell thickness, and cuticle quality than hens fed the Control ( < 0.05). Hens fed Control + QY or Control + virginiamycin + QY had lower culled eggs, better FCR and higher egg specific weight, shell percentage, and yolk strength compared to breeder hens fed the Control ( < 0.05). In general, hens fed QY achieved enhanced performance and egg quality compared to virginiamycin. In conclusion, laying breeder hens fed diets supplemented with Quillaja and Yucca additive, from 30 to 49 weeks of age, maintained their productive performance, had improved eggshell and cuticle quality and reduced culled, dirty and contaminated eggs.
PubMed: 36744222
DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.1069295 -
Anais Da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias 2020The aim was to evaluate the use of mixture of microencapsulated carvacrol and cinnamaldehyde as a replacement for growth-promoting antibiotics in broiler diets on...
The aim was to evaluate the use of mixture of microencapsulated carvacrol and cinnamaldehyde as a replacement for growth-promoting antibiotics in broiler diets on performance, intestinal quality, organ development, carcass yields and cuts, and meat quality. In the trial were used 600 male chicks, allocated in a completely randomized design, with five treatments and eight replicates of 15 birds, reared up to 41 days of age. The treatments were: Negative Control (NC), Positive Control (PC) 30 mg/kg of virginiamycin, NC+100 mg/kg of essential oils, NC+200 mg/kg of essential oils and NC+400 mg/kg of essential oils. Essential oils were composed by a micro-encapsulated blend, with of 60% cinnamaldehyde, 30% carvacrol and 10% carrier. Birds received essential oils achieved performance equivalent to those birds received PC diets, having better development than NC broilers. No differences were found on relative organ weight, intestinal mucosa and meat quality parameters, however, higher villus:cript ratio was found in PC, NC+200 and NC+400 groups. Meat crude protein and yellowness were influenced by inclusion of carvacrol and cinnamaldehyde. It was concluded microencapsulated carvacrol and cinnamaldehyde can replace growth-promoting antibiotic in broiler diets, ensuring performance, intestinal integrity and broiler meat quality.
Topics: Acrolein; Animal Feed; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Chickens; Cymenes; Diet; Dietary Supplements; Male; Meat
PubMed: 33331397
DOI: 10.1590/0001-3765202020200343 -
Australian Veterinary Journal Jan 2020Improving antimicrobial stewardship in the livestock sector requires an understanding of the motivations for antimicrobial use and the quantities consumed....
OBJECTIVE
Improving antimicrobial stewardship in the livestock sector requires an understanding of the motivations for antimicrobial use and the quantities consumed. However,detailed information on antimicrobial use in livestock sectors is lacking. This cross-sectional study aimed to better understand antimicrobial use in the beef feedlot sector in Australia.
DESIGN
A self-administered questionnaire asking about antimicrobial use and reasons for use was designed and mailed to beef feedlot operators in Australia. Respondents were asked to report the percentage of animals treated, purpose of use, and disease conditions targeted for 26antimicrobial agents.
RESULTS
In total, 83 of 517 (16.1%) beef feedlot operators completed the survey. Monensin (61.0%of respondents) and virginiamycin (19.5%of respondents) were the most commonly reported in-feed antimicrobials. In-feed antimicrobial agents were most frequently used by respondents for treatment of gastrointestinal diseases (52.8%). Antimicrobials were used for growth promotion by 42.1% of respondents, with most (85.7%) reporting the use of ionophores(a group of compounds not used in human medicine). Short-acting penicillin(69.1%), short-acting oxytetracycline, and tulathromycin (both 57.3%) werethe most common injectable antimicrobial agents used. Injectable antimicrobials were most frequently used to treat respiratory (72.3%) and musculoskeletal (67.5%) conditions.
CONCLUSION
Overall,the use of antimicrobials was appropriate for the purpose indicated, and there was a strong preference for drugs of low-importance in human medicine. The data described here stand to be a strong influence on the implementation of an antimicrobial stewardship program in the sector.
Topics: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Anti-Infective Agents; Australia; Cattle; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Red Meat
PubMed: 31721160
DOI: 10.1111/avj.12889 -
BMC Genetics Sep 2020In order to study the relations of hepatocellular functions, weight gain and metabolic imbalance caused by low-dose antibiotics (LDA) via epigenetic regulation of gene...
BACKGROUND
In order to study the relations of hepatocellular functions, weight gain and metabolic imbalance caused by low-dose antibiotics (LDA) via epigenetic regulation of gene transcription, 32 weaned piglets were employed as animal models and randomly allocated into two groups with diets supplemented with 0 or LDA (chlorotetracycline and virginiamycin).
RESULTS
During the 4 weeks of the experiment, LDA showed a clear growth-promoting effect, which was exemplified by the significantly elevated body weight and average daily gain. Promoter methylome profiling using liquid hybridization capture-based bisulfite sequencing (LHC-BS) indicated that most of the 745 differential methylation regions (DMRs) were hypermethylated in the LDA group. Several DMRs were significantly enriched in genes related with fatty acids metabolic pathways, such as FABP1 and PCK1. In addition, 71 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained by strand-specific transcriptome analysis of liver tissues, including ALOX15, CXCL10 and NNMT, which are three key DEGs that function in lipid metabolism and immunity and which had highly elevated expression in the LDA group. In accordance with these molecular changes, the lipidome analyses of serum by LC-MS identified 38 significantly differential lipids, most of which were downregulated in the LDA group.
CONCLUSIONS
Our results indicate that LDA could induce epigenetic and transcriptional changes of key genes and lead to enhanced efficiency of lipid metabolism in the liver.
Topics: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; DNA Methylation; Diet; Epigenesis, Genetic; Female; Lipid Metabolism; Lipids; Liver; Sus scrofa; Transcriptome; Weight Gain
PubMed: 32957918
DOI: 10.1186/s12863-020-00918-3 -
Poultry Science Jul 2021This experiment was conducted to assess the comparative effects of dietary antibiotics and oregano essential oil (OEO) addition on growth performance, antioxidant status...
This experiment was conducted to assess the comparative effects of dietary antibiotics and oregano essential oil (OEO) addition on growth performance, antioxidant status and intestinal health of broilers. A total of 384 one-day-old broilers were randomly allocated to 4 treatments with 6 replicates of 16 broilers each. The 4 treatments were: an antibiotic-free control diet (control), control + 20 mg/kg colistin sulfate and 20 mg/kg virginiamycin (antibiotics), control + 200 mg/kg natural oregano essential oil (NOEO), and control + 200 mg/kg synthetic oregano essential oil (SOEO). The experiment lasted for 42 d. Results showed that birds fed with OEO had greater (P < 0.05) average daily gain (ADG) and lower (P < 0.05) feed conversion ratio (FCR) than those fed with control diet during d 1 to 21. Besides, birds fed with NOEO had the greatest (P < 0.05) ADG in the four groups during d 22 to 42. The serum oxidative stress parameters showed that OEO improved (P < 0.05) the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione reductase (GR) of birds on day 21 and the activity of total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) of birds on d 42. Relative to control, NOEO increased (P < 0.05) the activity of T-AOC in jejunum and decreased (P < 0.05) the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) in serum and jejunum. Moreover, OEO supplementation increased (P < 0.05) the concentrations of sIgA in duodenum and jejunum, Lactobacillus and total anaerobes in cecum, as well as activities of trypsin, chymotrypsin, lipase and amylase in duodenum, but restrained (P < 0.05) the amount of Escherichia coli. The NOEO supplementation increased (P < 0.05) total anaerobes of broilers on d 42 and the villus height to crypt depth ratio (VH/CD) of ileum. These results suggest that OEO improved antioxidant status and intestinal health of broilers which contributed to the growth performance improvement of broilers. Dietary OEO supplementation can be a promising alternative to antibiotic growth promoters for improving poultry production.
Topics: Animal Feed; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Antioxidants; Chickens; Diet; Dietary Supplements; Oils, Volatile; Origanum
PubMed: 34082177
DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2021.101163 -
Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2022Weaning stress induces the depressed digestive and absorptive capacity and insufficient intestinal energy supply. Medium-chain fatty acid glycerides have shown to...
Weaning stress induces the depressed digestive and absorptive capacity and insufficient intestinal energy supply. Medium-chain fatty acid glycerides have shown to improve the growth performance and intestinal barrier function of weaned piglets in the previous study. This study was aimed to investigate the regulation of medium-chain fatty acid glyceride on the nutrient absorption and energy utilization of weaned piglets. Nighty healthy weaned piglets were randomly assigned into five treatments: NP (Normal protein, normal-protein diet no antibiotics included); NC (Negative control, low-protein diet no antibiotics included); PC (Positive control, low-protein diet +75 mg/kg quinocetone, 20 mg/kg virginiamycin and 50 mg/kg aureomycin); MCT (tricaprylin + tricaprin group, low-protein diet + tricaprylin + tricaprin); GML (glycerol monolaurate group, low-protein diet + glycerol monolaurate). The results showed that GML treatment increased the ALP activity, concentrations of serine and methionine, MCT treatment increased concentrations of serine and 3-methyl-histidine but decreased TG concentration in serum. MCT and GML supplementations significantly promoted the lipase activity in the jejunum and ileum, as well as the AMP content in the ileal mucosa. GML addition significantly decreased the contents of butyric acid, isobutyric acid and total volatile fatty acid. In addition, medium chain fatty acid glycerides altered gene expressions involved in lipid metabolism, which showing the increases of AMPK2, CD36 and CGI58 and the decreases of MGAT2 and DGAT2 in the liver, as well as the increases of CD36, CGI58, MGAT2 and DGAT2 in the subcutaneous adipose tissue. These findings showed that medium-chain fatty acid glyceride can effectively improve the absorption of nutrients and lipid metabolism of piglets to meet the energy demand of weaned piglets, and then regulate the growth and development of weaned piglets.
PubMed: 35847640
DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.938888 -
Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2023Although efforts to improve antimicrobial stewardship should include the collection of antimicrobial use data, most antimicrobial datasets collected at the national...
Although efforts to improve antimicrobial stewardship should include the collection of antimicrobial use data, most antimicrobial datasets collected at the national level consist of antimicrobial sales data which cannot inform stewardship. These data lack context, such as information regarding target species, disease indication, and regimen specifics like dose, route and duration. Therefore, the goal of this study was to develop a system for collecting data on the use of antimicrobials in the U.S. broiler chicken industry. This study utilized a public-private partnership to enable collection and protection of sensitive data from an extremely large industry while releasing deidentified and aggregated information regarding the details of antimicrobial use on U.S. broiler chicken farms over time. Participation was voluntary. Data were collected for the period 2013 through 2021 and are reported on a calendar year basis. Using production statistics from USDA:NASS as a denominator, the data supplied by participating companies represented approximately 82.1% of broiler chicken production in the U.S. in 2013, approximately 88.6% in 2017, and approximately 85.0% in 2021. The data that were submitted for 2021 are based on approximately 7,826,121,178 chickens slaughtered and 50,550,817,859 pounds liveweight produced. Granular flock-level treatment records were available for 75-90% of the birds represented in the 2018-2021 dataset. There was no use of antimicrobials in the hatchery for the years 2020 and 2021. Medically important in-feed antimicrobial use decreased substantially, with all in-feed tetracycline use being eliminated by 2020, and the use of virginiamycin being reduced by more than 97% since 2013. Medically important water-soluble antimicrobials are used for the treatment of disease in broiler production. Use decreased substantially for most water-soluble antimicrobials. The most important diseases necessitating treatment were necrotic enteritis and gangrenous dermatitis as well as -related disease. A focus on reducing the incidence of these diseases would reduce the need for antimicrobial therapy but will require an investment in research to find efficacious and cost-effective interventions for these diseases.
PubMed: 37138912
DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1139908