Examination of the Expression of Immunity Genes and Bacterial Profiles in the Caecum of Growing Chickens Infected with Enteritidis and Fed a Phytobiotic.

Abstract

This study was performed to investigate the differential expression of eight immunity genes and the bacterial profiles in the caecum of growing chickens challenged with serovar Enteritidis (SE) at 1 and 23 days post inoculation (dpi) in response to SE infection at 19 days of age and administration of the phytobiotic Intebio. Following infection, the genes and were upregulated by greater than twofold. Chicks fed Intebio showed at 1 dpi upregulation of , , , and . At 23 dpi, expression of , , , and lowered in the experiment subgroups as compared with the control. Examination of the caecal contents at 1 dpi demonstrated a significant decrease in the microbial biodiversity in the infected subgroup fed normal diet. Bacterial content of and declined, while that of rose. In the infected subgroup fed Intebio, a pronounced change in composition of the microflora was not observed. In the early infection stages, the phytobiotic seemed to promote response to infection. Subsequently, an earlier suppression of the inflammatory reaction took place in chickens fed Intebio. Thus, use of Intebio as a drug with phytobiotic activity in chickens, including those infected with , proved to be promising.