Effects of dietary Bacillus subtilis 14823 on growth performance, gut barrier integrity and inflammatory response of broilers raised in a stressful tropical environment

Abstract

Heat stress (HS) has become a major concern for the poultry industry in many countries. HS impacts gut health by causing damaged mucosal microstructures, increased oxidative stress, weakened immunity, and heightened permeability to toxins and poultry pathogens. We investigated the potential benefits to broiler chickens subjected to HS of dietary supplementation with Bacillus subtilis 14823. Growth performance, gut barrier integrity, and expressions of inflammatory cytokines were analyzed. The results indicated that dietary supplementation with B. subtilis spores at concentrations of 1 × 10⁶ CFU/g of feed (BS6 group) and 1 × 10⁷ CFU/g of feed (BS7 group) improved body weight and body weight gain during d 0–42 (P < 0.05), while the feed intake of the BS7 group was highest (P < 0.05). Additionally, the BS6 group showed a better feed conversion ratio than the control (CON) group (P < 0.05). The BS7 group showed the lowest serum fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran levels (P < 0.05), and both the BS6 and BS7 groups showed lower corticosterone levels than the CON group (P < 0.05). Additionally, both the BS6 and BS7 groups demonstrated increased villi height and villus height/crypt depth ratio, along with decreased crypt depth in the duodenum and ileum (P < 0.05). However, only the BS7 group exhibited greater improvements than the CON group in the jejunum at d 35. Furthermore, at d 14 and 35, mRNA expressions of occludin, claudin-1, and tight junction protein-1 in the jejunum were upregulated (P < 0.05), and expression levels of five inflammatory cytokine genes were downregulated in the ileum (P < 0.05). Our findings provide new insights and evidence supporting the application of B. subtilis 14823 for enhancing growth performance, gut barrier integrity, and modulating inflammatory cytokines in broilers.