FEED APPLICATION OF DATE PALM KERNEL EXTRACT TO ENHANCE IMMUNE RESPONSE AND MODIFY HISTOLOGICAL CHANGES IN BROILER CHICKENS CHALLENGED WITH INFECTIOUS BRONCHITIS VIRUS

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain shams University Egypt

2 Department of Poultry Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain shams University, Egypt

Abstract

Avian infectious bronchitis (IB) disease is caused by avian infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) which causes significant economic losses to the poultry industry worldwide. The aim of this study is to evaluate the dietary ameliorative effect of date palm kernel (DPK) powder to increase the immunity and modify histological changes in broiler chickens challenged with the infectious bronchitis virus. 500 broiler chicks were allotted to challenged and unchallenged groups in a completely randomized design. The unchallenged groups were randomly divided into 2 feed treatments (Control- non-supplemented and control+ supplemented with 1% DPK from 1-35 days of age (DOA), while challenged groups were divided into 4 treatments as follows: Challenged non-supplemented; Challenged + 1% DPK from 1-21 DOA; Challenged+ 1% DPK from 21-35 DOA; and challenged + 1% DPK from 1-35 DOA. At 21 days of age, chicks of challenged groups were nasal inoculated with IBV isolated from infected birds. At 24 hours post inoculation, the morbidity rate was determined according to clinical signs of infection. At 35 days, blood samples were collected from 6 chickens from the jugular vein, and then slaughtered, and macroscopical and histological examinations were done. Serum concentrations of IL-6, IgG, and IgM were determined. The health status of the trachea showed hemorrhage and edema in challenged chickens. Also, renal inflammation, hemorrhage, and uric acid accumulation were observed. Furthermore, challenged chickens showed necrosis and degeneration of renal and lung tissues. The highest morbidity rate was observed in the challenge non-supplemented group (T3), followed by chickens in treatments T4, T5, and T6 compared with unchallenged control chickens. The health status of not challenged chicks supplemented or non-supplemented with kernel date palm extract had significantly better IL-6 concentrations, followed by challenged-supplemented chicks, compared with challenged-non-supplemented chicks that had the lowest concentrations. Similar trends were recorded for the serum concentration of total immunoglobulins and their fractions. In general, dietary supplementation with DPK had a positive effect on inflammatory reactions and stimulated the innate immune responses of chickens during the IBV challenge. Conclusion: It was concluded that dietary addition of DPK at 1% led to highly significant increase in the chicken immune response, a remarkable modification in histological changes in renal and lung tissues, and a decrease in the morbidity rate.

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