Research Note: Effect of synbiotic supplementation on caecal Clostridium perfringens load in broiler chickens with different necrotic enteritis challenge models

Studies were conducted to determine the efficacy of synbiotic applications to combat the negative effects of necrotic enteritis (NE). An in vitro study was conducted to test the effect of probiotics species supernatants to decrease Clostridium perfringens (CP) proliferation. Lactobacillus reuteri, Enterococcus faecium, Bifidobacterium animalis, and Pediococcus acidilactici culture supernatants decreased the proliferation of CP at 1:1 supernatant-to-pathogen dilution in vitro. Two in vivo studies were conducted to determine the in vivo response of synbiotic supplementation containing the aforementioned probiotic strains on broiler production performance and caecal CP load in broilers induced with NE infection. In experiment 1, 75 broiler chicks were randomly allotted to 3 treatment groups, control (basal diet), ionophore (Salinomycin), and synbiotic (PoultryStar me), from day of hatch, and NE was induced in all birds. There were no significant treatment effects on BW, feed consumption, and feed gain ratio. However, at 35 D, ionophore or synbiotic supplementation increased (P < 0.05) villi height and decreased interleukin (IL)-1 mRNA abundance, while synbiotic supplementation increased (P < 0.05) IL-10 mRNA abundance compared with the control group, respectively. In experiment 2, 360 broiler chicks were randomly allotted to 3 treatments, an unchallenged negative control (control; basal diet), challenged positive control (NE; basal diet), or NE + synbiotic group (synbiotic). At both 21 and 42 D of age, NE birds had decreased (P < 0.05) BW, feed conversion, and jejunal villi height compared with control, while NE + synbiotic birds were not different from control groups. At 42 D of age, NE birds had 2.2 log/g increased CP in the ceca contents compared with control, while synbiotic birds had CP load that was not different than that of the control group. NE + synbiotic birds had significantly greater amounts of bile anti-CP IgA than the control and NE groups. It can be concluded that synbiotic supplementation decreased CP proliferation in vitro and caecal CP load in vivo while improving production parameters during an NE infection in broilers.