Non-starch polysaccharides alter interactions between Heterakis gallinarum and Histomonas meleagridis

Nutrition of the host animal may not only influence interactions between the host and its parasites, but also relations between different parasites species residing on the same host. We investigated effects of insoluble and soluble non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) on establishment and development of Heterakis gallinarum in chicken being treated or left untreated against Histomonas meleagridis. Six groups of one-day-old birds were allocated to three diets, two on each diet. The birds were fed ad libitum either a basal diet (CON), or CON+insoluble NSP (I-NSP) or CON+soluble NSP (S-NSP) until an age of 11wk. At an age of 19d, one of each diet groups was prophylactically treated for 9d with dimetridazole (0.05%, w/v) via drinking water against histomonas. The remaining three groups were left un-treated. Two days after starting dimetridazole treatment (at 3wk), each of the 6 groups was divided into two sub-groups. One dimetridazole treated and one dimetridazole un-treated groups of birds on each diet (6 groups) were infected with 200 embryonated eggs of H. gallinarum that were previously harvested from histomonas-carrying H. gallinarum infected chickens. The remaining 6 groups of uninfected birds, either treated or left un-treated against H. meleagridis, served as controls. Worm burdens of infected birds were determined 8wk p.i. Treatment against H. meleagridis significantly increased incidence of H. gallinarum infection and average worm length in all infected groups independent of the diet consumed (p<0.001). An interaction between effects of diet and dimetridazole treatment on worm burden (p<0.001) indicated that the S-NSP diet resulted in lowest worm burden in dimetridazole un-treated birds, whereas it caused the highest worm burden in the treated birds (p<0.05). Furthermore, the treatment resulted in higher worm burdens when compared to un-treated birds on the corresponding diets (p<0.05). Infection with H. gallinarum impaired body weight (BW) of the chicks (p<0.05) and H. meleagridis aggravated this effect (p<0.05). Dimetridazole treated and un-treated uninfected birds developed similar BW (p>0.05). Both NSP supplemented diets resulted in lower (p<0.05) BW when compared with the CON diet, S-NSP being inferior to I-NSP (p<0.05). It is concluded that H. meleagridis harms the definitive host as well as H. gallinarum. Both insoluble and soluble NSP supplemented diets favor H. gallinarum infection while S-NSP additionally intensifies histomonas infection, which then impairs establishment and development of H. gallinarum.