Jerusalem Artichoke as a Potential Prebiotic: Influence on Nutrient Utilization, Hindgut Fermentation and Immune Response of Labrador Dogs
2012
Samal, Lipismita | Chaturvedi, V.B. | Saxena, S. | Baliyan, Meeta | Pattanaik, A.K.
In order to explore the potential of Jerusalem artichoke (JA) as a prebiotic, four groups (CON, PRE-1, PRE-2 and PRE-3) of adult Labrador dogs (n=4 in each) were fed for 90d on a basal diet supplemented with pulverized JA tuber at 0, 1, 2 and 3% levels, respectively. Cell-mediated immunity was assessed on d56 by measuring skin indurations following intra-dermal phytohaemagglutinin-P inoculation. At d60, peripheral lymphocyte sub-populations in blood were assessed by flow cytometry. Humoral immunity was assessed by quantifying the antibody titre against sheep-RBC (SRBC). A digestion trial of 6d duration was conducted after 80d of feeding. Results revealed an increase (P=0.016) in skin indurations in PRE1 and PRE-2 compared to CON and PRE-3. There was no impact of JA on circulating peripheral CD3+ and CD8+ populations, however, CD4+ populations enhanced (P=0.005) in JA supplemented groups than CON. The antibody titre (log2) against SRBC was also higher (P=0.007) in treatment groups than control. There was an increase (P¡Ã0.05) in faecal concentration of lactate and short-chain fatty acids with a concomitant reduction in ammonia. The faecal counts (log10 cfu/g) of health-positive Bifidobacterium (P=0.035) and Lactobacillus (P=0.062) were higher in treatment groups while health-negative coliforms and Clostridium counts remained unaltered. The digestion trial indicated that JA supplementation improved the digestibility of fibre (P=0.003) along with that of calcium and phosphorus. Overall findings revealed that JA may constitute a perspective prebiotic additive because of its apparent positive impacts on immune status as well as hindgut fermentation.
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