Lactobacillus plantarum BS22 promotes gut microbial homeostasis in broiler chickens exposed to aflatoxin B₁

Probiotics promote the health of the host by maintaining intestinal microbial homeostasis. This study aimed to investigate the benefits of Lactobacillus plantarum BS22 (LP) in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) microbial homeostasis of broiler chickens exposed to aflatoxin B₁ using the PCR-DGGE, viable count and real-time PCR. The toxin adsorption experiment demonstrated that treatment R5 (1.0 × 10⁸ CFU/g LP) exhibited good absorptive effect in adsorbing the aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁ ) in vitro. DGGE showed that the composition and structure of gut microbiota were more similar in the mucosa than in the content of all the samples. In addition, higher diversity of the microbiota was observed in the caecum and glandular stomach than in other segments. Lactobacillus, Enterococcus and Enterobacteriaceae were more abundant in the ileum than in the other segments. Enterobacteriaceae in groups I (basal diet) and II (basal diet+50 μg/kg AFB₁ ) showed a significant difference in group III (basal diet + 50 μg/kg AFB₁  + 1 × 10⁸ CFU/g LP) in the crop content and duodenum mucosa (p < .05). This investigation indicates that the L. plantarum BS22 promotes GIT microbial homeostasis in broiler chickens exposed to AFB₁ , particularly for the intestine mucosa microbiota. Thus, L. plantarum BS22 is a possible candidate for degrading AFB_1.