U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 Animal Biosciences & Biotechnology Laboratory: Beltsville, MD
 close



    Research

                    Research Projects
                                    Publications
                                    Collaborations
                                    News
                People

                    Staff Listing
                                    Careers


        


                    Announcements
                        ABBL Journal Club
                    USDA Civil Rights Policy StatementSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Northeast Area Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) Beltsville Agricultural Research Center Animal Biosciences & Biotechnology Laboratory Research Publications at this Location





- ARS National Programs
- Search for a scientific manuscript
- Search for a research project
- ARS Software
- Programs and Projects
- Collaborations
- Subjects of Investigation
- Publications

Title:   Author  item
                                            Kim, Duk Kyungitem
                                            Lillehoj, Hyunitem
                                            Lee, Sungitem
                                            LILLEHOJ, ERIK - University Of Marylanditem
                                            BRAVO, DAVID - Pancosma Sa
  Submitted to: British Journal of Nutrition
                                    Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
                                    Publication Acceptance Date: 6/12/2012
                                    Publication  Date: 6/26/2012
                                    Citation: Kim, D., Lillehoj, H.S., Lee, S.H., Lillehoj, E., Bravo, D. 2012. Improved resistance to Eimeria acervulina infection in chickens due to dietary supplementation with garlic metabolites. British Journal of Nutrition. p. 1-13.Interpretive Summary: With increasing regulatory restriction on the use of growth promoting antibiotics in poultry production, there is an urgent need to develop alternative strategies to control poultry infectious diseases where effective vaccines are not available. In this paper, ARS scientists describes a novel strategy to enhance gut health of poultry using phytochemicals in collaboration with scientists from Pancosma company in Switzerland.  ARS research found that propyl thiosulfinate (PTS) and propyl thiosulfinatate oxide (PTSO), secondary metabolites of garlic (Allium sativum) stimulate innate immunity in vitro and reduce the severity of disease after challenging with coccidia parasites in commercial broiler chickens.  Furthermore, PTS and PTSO killed Eimeria parasites in vitro and dietary feeding of young birds with diets which are supplemented with PTS and PTSO reduced the gut lesions and improved body weight gains following challenge infection with avian coccidiosis. Genomic analysis of intestinal tissues from chickens fed PTS/PTSO-supplemented diet showed significant immunologic and genomic changes that are relevant to protective immunity during avian coccidiosis. These results show the first scientific evidence that secondary metabolites of garlic such as PTS and PTSO are excellent dietary alternatives to antibiotics.
                                Technical Abstract: 
The effects of a compound including secondary metabolites of garlic, propyl thiosulfinate (PTS) and propyl thiosulfinatate oxide (PTSO), on in vitro and in vivo parameters of chicken gut immunity during experimental Eimeria acervulina infection were evaluated.  In in vitro assays, the compound of PTSO (67%) and PTS (33%) dose-dependently killed invasive E. acervulina sporozoites and stimulated higher spleen cell proliferation.  Broiler chickens continuously fed from hatch with PTSO/PTS compound supplemented diet and orally challenged with live E. acervulina oocysts had increased body weight gain, decreased fecal oocyst excretion, and greater E. acervulina profilin antibody responses compared with chickens fed a non-supplemented diet.  Differential gene expression by microarray hybridization identified 1,227 transcripts whose levels were significantly altered in intestinal lymphocytes of PTSO/PTS-fed birds compared with non-supplemented controls (552 up-regulated, 675 down-regulated).  Biological pathway analysis identified the altered transcripts as belonging to the categories of "Disease and Disorder" and "Physiological System Development and Function."  In the former category, the most significant function identified was "Inflammatory Response," while the most significant function in the latter category was "Cardiovascular System Development and Function."  This new information documents the immunologic and genomic changes that occur in chickens following PTSO/PTS dietary supplementation that are relevant to protective immunity during avian coccidiosis.


Return to top


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov