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Published on: June 18, 2020
Perturbation of microbiota in one-day old broiler chickens with antibiotic for 24 hours negatively affects intestinal
Dirkjan Schokker1, Alfons J M Jansman2, Gosse Veninga3
1Wageningen Livestock Research, Postbus 338, 6700 AH, Wageningen, The Netherlands. dirkjan.schokker@wur.nl.
Insights
Early antibiotic exposure in chickens temporarily alters the gut microbiome and impacts immune cell development, highlighting the critical role of early microbial colonization for immune competence.
Area of Science:
- Animal Science
- Microbiology
- Immunology
Background:
- Gut microbial colonization and immune system development are closely linked in early life.
- Early-life factors like nutrition and environment significantly influence this relationship.
- Disrupting the gut microbiome in young animals can impair the communication between intestinal bacteria and host cells.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of early-life antibiotic perturbation on the jejunal microbiome and immune development in chickens.
- To assess the effects of a short amoxicillin treatment on microbial composition, diversity, and mucosal gene expression.
- To determine the consequences of antibiotic-induced microbiome changes on immune cell populations in the intestinal lining.
Main Methods:
- Administered amoxicillin to 1-day-old chickens for 24 hours.
- Analyzed jejunal microbiome composition and diversity using 16S rRNA profiling.
- Performed whole-genome gene expression analysis of the small intestinal mucosa.
- Quantified immune cell populations (KUL01+ macrophages) in the intestinal mucosa.
Main Results:
- Observed trends in changes to microbiome composition and diversity in antibiotic-treated birds compared to controls.
- Identified significant alterations in the expression of numerous genes in the jejunum, suggesting changes in mucosal biological activities.
- Found a reduction in macrophage-like cells (KUL01+) in the small intestinal mucosa following antibiotic treatment.
- Demonstrated that early-life antibiotic exposure temporarily affects the intestinal microbiota and alters mucosal gene expression for at least two weeks.
Conclusions:
- Early-life microbial colonization is crucial for proper immune development in chickens.
- Short-term antibiotic treatment can disrupt the gut microbiota and impact immune cell development.
- Further research into early-life interventions is needed to optimize immune competence in broiler chickens.
Background:
Gut microbial colonization and development of immune competence are intertwined and are influenced by early-life nutritional, environmental, and management factors. Perturbation of the gut microbiome at young age affects the crosstalk between intestinal bacteria and host cells of the intestinal mucosa.
Results:
We investigated the effect of a perturbation of the normal early life microbial colonization of the jejunum in 1-day old chickens. Perturbation was induced by administering 0.8 mg amoxicillin per bird per day) via the drinking water for a period of 24 h. Effects of the perturbation were measured by 16S rRNA profiling of the microbiome and whole genome gene expression analysis. In parallel to what has been observed for other animal species, we hypothesized that such an intervention may have negative impact on immune development. Trends were observed in changes of the composition and diversity of the microbiome when comparing antibiotic treated birds with their controls. in the jejunum, the expression of numerous genes changed, which potentially leads to changes in biological activities of the small intestinal mucosa. Validation of the predicted functional changes was performed by staining immune cells in the small intestinal mucosa and a reduction in the number of macrophage-like (KUL01+) cells was observed due to a direct or indirect effect of the antibiotic treatment. We provide evidence that a short, early life antibiotic treatment affects both the intestinal microbiota (temporarily) and mucosal gene expression over a period of 2 weeks.
Conclusion:
These results underscore the importance of early life microbial colonization of the gut in relation to immune development and the necessity to explore the capabilities of a variety of early life dietary and/or environmental factors to modulate the programming for immune competence in broilers.
