Dietary supplementation of organic or inorganic chromium modulates the immune responses of broilers vaccinated with Avian Influenza virus vaccine

• Published in: Animal (Cambridge, England) Vol. 13; no. 5; pp. 983 - 991
• Main Authors: Lu, L., Zhao, L. L., Dong, S. Y., Liao, X. D., Dong, X. Y., Zhang, L. Y., Luo, X. G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01-05-2019; Elsevier Limited; Elsevier
• Subjects: antibody titers; Avian flu; Binding sites; Blood; Bursa of Fabricius; Chickens; Chicks; Chloride; Chlorides; Chromium; chromium source and level; Cytokines; Diet; Dietary supplements; Feeds; growth performance; Immune response; Influenza; Interleukin 2; Interleukins; Juveniles; Lymphocyte transformation; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; lymphoid organs; Metabolism; Nutrition research; Organs; Performance evaluation; Physiology and Functional Biology; Poultry; Research Article; Soybeans; Spleen; Studies; Thymus; Vaccines; Viruses; Vitamin E; Beijing China; China; chickens; chromium source and level; growth performance; antibody titers; lymphoid organs
• ISSN: 1751-7311; 1751-732X
• DOI: 10.1017/S1751731118002379

Dietary supplementation with the organic chromium (Cr) has been shown to positively affect the immune function of poultry. However, to our knowledge, no experiment has been done to directly compare the impacts of Cr chloride and chromium picolinate (CrPic) on the immune responses of broilers vaccinated with Avian Influenza (AI) virus vaccine. Therefore, the present experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of supplemental Cr sources (Cr chloride and CrPic) and levels on the growth performance and immune responses of broilers vaccinated with AI virus vaccine so as to provide an effective nutritional strategy for improving immune function of broilers. A total of 432 1-day (d)-old male broiler chicks were used in a 1 plus 2×4 design. Chickens were given either a diet without Cr supplementation (control) or diets supplemented with 0.4, 0.8, 1.6, or 3.2 mg Cr/kg as either Cr chloride or CrPic for 42 d. Compared to the control, dietary Cr supplementation had no effect (P>0.05) on average daily gain, average daily feed intake and gain : feed of broilers during the starter and grower phases, but increased (P<0.05) the relative weights of bursa of fabricius on d 21 and thymus, spleen, or bursa of fabricius on d 42, serum antibody titers against AI virus on d 21, 28, 35 and 42, blood T-lymphocyte transformation rate on d 28 and 42, blood T-lymphocyte percentage on d 42, and serum interleukin-2 contents on d 28. Broilers fed the diets supplemented with the inorganic Cr chloride had higher (P<0.05) weights of thymus, spleen and bursa of fabricius than those fed the diets supplemented with the CrPic on d 42. In addition, broilers fed the diets supplemented with the CrPic had higher (P<0.05) antibody titers against AI virus than those fed the diets supplemented with the inorganic Cr chloride on d 21 and 35. These results indicate that dietary Cr supplementation improved immune responses of broilers vaccinated with AI virus, and the inorganic Cr chloride was more effective than the CrPic in increasing the relative weights of lymphoid organs, however, the CrPic was more effective than the inorganic Cr chloride in enhancing the serum antibody titer against AI virus.