Shahram Niknafs

I. INTRODUCTIONThe ban on the use of AGPs together with good antibiotic stewardship practices by intensive livestock industries resulting in a decline of antimicrobial resistance globally (Salim et al., 2018). Probiotics have been widely studied partially as a replacement of AGPs. Some probiotics are able to improve production performance whilst improving gut health and decreasing the likelihood o ...

Xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS) are xylose-based oligomers, which have been described to affect the gut microflora, and gut function in chickens (Zhou et al., 2021). This, in turn, may have an impact on intestinal epithelial cell turnover, which accounts for a significant part of the energy of maintenance required by the gastrointestinal tract. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of dieta ...

Oregano essential oil (OEO) and carvacrol, the main compound of OEO, are considered as a reference for biological activities of essential oils (EO). OEO has positive effects on gut and immune system developments potentially related to antimicrobial and antioxidant activities in chickens (Brenes and Roura, 2010). Embryonic development accounts for one-third of the lifespan of modern broiler chicken ...

Plant-derived essential oils (EOs) contain functional phytochemical components that are used as feed additives to improve gut health and reduce the need for antibiotics. The injection of EOs into fertile eggs has the potential to influence the developing embryo including the gastrointestinal tract. This in turn may mitigate intestinal susceptibility and regulate gut microbial composition, resultin ...

Broiler chickens spend one third of their lives developing inside an egg. Hence, understanding and optimising the in ovo environment is fundamental. The pH of body fluids is tightly regulated to maintain critical physiological functions such as gas exchanges. Enzymes equally have an optimum pH range that determines their efficiency. Changes to these conditions, may impact on the efficiency of O2 t ...

Enteric diseases can severely affect the health and welfare of broiler chicks, often requiring antibiotic treatment. A key focus of livestock research has been the development of preventive measures to avoid the need for antibiotic products. Within this context, the use of dietary essential oils (EO) has been widely studied, showing consistent positive effects on gut health (Brenes & Roura, 20 ...

The use of antimicrobials in agriculture including broiler production is cause for concern due to the development of antibiotic resistant pathogens affecting both farm animals and humans (Marshall and Levy, 2011). Essential oils (EO) have been considered as promising alternatives to antibiotics. The aim of this study was to establish a standard in-ovo intervention using oregano EO to enhance resil ...

Long-term feeding of dietary fibre (DF) has been reported to cause erosion of the epithelial cell layer resulting in mucosal damage with a decrease in villus height in the small intestine (Iji et al., 2001). This project studied the long-term effects of low and high levels of soluble DF on gut physiology by comparing transcriptome in the jejunum between groups. We hypothesized that soluble DF woul ...

Enteric diseases can severely affect health and welfare in broilers but can be effectively treated by antibiotics. However, complying with current consumer trends requires the adoption of other strategies away from these chemicals. One of the alternatives is essential oils (EO’s); plant-derived compounds that are used in poultry nutrition due to their antimicrobial, antioxidant and immunemod ...