Dietary Inclusion of Scent Leaf Meal (Ocimum Gratissimum) Affects Immune Genes Expression in Chicken Spleen at 28 and 56 Days

This study was conducted to examine the effects of scent leaf meal (Ocimum gratissimum) on expression of inflammatory cytokines in the spleen of two chicken strains. A total of 150birds (75 of each strain) were randomly allotted into five dietary treatments at fifteen birds per treatment. Birds were fed diet containing varying levels of Ocimum gratissimum leaf meal. Treatment one (T1) had 0% OG, while treatment two (T2), treatment three (T3), treatment four (T4) and treatment five (T5) had 0.5% OG, 1.00% OG, 1.5% OG and 2% OG respectively. Feed and water was provided adlibitum throughout the feeding trial. Three birds were slaughtered from each treatment at day 28 and day 56, spleen samples were collected and stored using RNALater in a -20oc freezer prior to RNA extraction. Real-time qPCR was performed in 40cycles using the PowerUp SYBR Green reagent and analyzed with the 2-∆∆Ct method. Gene expression data were subjected to two-way analysis of variance. Strain effect was significantly different (P<0.05) at both time points. All the genes studied significantly differed (P<0.05) in their expression patterns at 28 and 56days of age. Increased inclusion rate of the test ingredients significantly (P<0.05) reduced IL1β and NF-KB1, while increasing IL10 and NF-KB2. Ocimim gratissimum leaf meal shows promise in the regulation of inflammation in chickens and can be used to efficiently replace antibiotics in broiler production.