Cecal microbiota transplantation: Unique influence of the donor line on growth, gut health, stress, and immune parameters of recipient chickens

Fecal microbiota transplantation is a promising therapeutic method in treating patients with gastrointestinal disorders such as inflammatory bowel diseases. The aim of this study was to examine if cecal microbiota transplantation (CMT) presents similar efficiency in improving the health status of egg-laying chickens. Cecal contents were collected from the diversely selected 6₃ and 7₂ lines based on resistance or susceptibility to Marek’s disease, resulting in line’s unique physiological characteristics and stress adaptive capacity. Cecal samples were diluted 1:10 in gut microbiome media; and transplantation was conducted through oral gavage daily at the first 10 d and then boosted weekly from wk 3 to 5. Eighty-four day-old male chicks of Dekalb XL strain were randomly assigned into 3 treatments with 7 replicates per treatment and 4 birds per replicate: Control (saline), 6₃-CMT (cecal solution of line 6₃), and 7₂-CMT (cecal solution of line 7₂). One bird per replicate was sacrificed to detect CMT-induced changes at wk 5 and 16, respectively. The results indicated that 7₂-CMT birds had the highest body weight and ileal villus/crypt ratios among treatments at wk 5 (P < 0.05); and higher heterophil/lymphocyte ratios than that of 6₃-CMT birds at wk 16 (P < 0.05). However, there were no treatment effects on the levels of corticosterone and testosterone at wk 16 (P > 0.05). 7₂-CMT birds also had higher levels of plasma immunoglobulin (Ig)G and interleukin (IL)-6 at wk 16, while 6₃-CMT birds had higher concentrations of ileal mucosal secretory IgA at wk 5 and plasma IL-10 at wk 16 (P < 0.05). In addition, 7₂-CMT birds tended to have the lowest serotonin concentrations (P = 0.07) with the highest serotonin turnover in the ileum among treatments at wk (P < 0.05). In conclusion, early postnatal CMT shows line-correlated effects on the growth and health status of recipients via the regulation of ileal morphological structures, gut-derived serotonergic activities, peripheral cytokines, and antibody production in egg-laying chickens.

Key Words: cecal microbiota transplantation, egg-laying chicken, gut health, immune parameter.

Presented at the 9th Symposium on Gut Health in Production of Food Animals, St. Louis, USA, 2021. For information on the next edition, click here.