Patent Abstract:
compositions which include a homotrimer , heterotrimer , homotetramer , and / or heterotetramer of a component such as pentose , hexose , an l or d isomer of a pentose or hexose , a β - form of a pentose or hexose , oxidized derivatives and mixtures of such compounds are disclosed as agglutination agents . the disclosed compositions are useful for agglutination of enteric pathogens and may be used for selectively controlling and regulating the microbial ecosystem in the gastrointestinal tract of a subject .

Detailed Description:
the present invention relates to a composition and the use thereof of as an agglutination agent for agglutinating enteric pathogens . more in particular the present composition comprises oligosaccharide , and more preferably homotrimer , heterotrimer , homotetramer and / or heterotretramer of a component selected from the group comprising pentose , hexose , a l or d isomers thereof , a α or β form thereof , combinations thereof , a oxidised derivative thereof , or any mixtures thereof . the term oligosaccharide refers to a short chain of sugar molecules . the term “ oligomers ” is used herein to refer to compounds having more than one monomer unit . the oligomers present in the present composition substantially comprise trimer ( s ) and tetramer ( s ) of ( oligo -) saccharide compounds , and more in particular homotrimers and / or heterotrimers . a concentration up to about 1 %, preferably an amount comprised between 0 . 01 and 0 . 2 % by weight , eventually combined with other raw materials or other growth promoting substances , such as antibiotics , probiotics , prebiotics , acids , . . . , can be used to achieve this particular goal . 0 . 125 g / 100 g feed has been found to be particularly suitable ( see examples ). conclusive , tri - and tetra - oligo - saccharides ( or their extracts or their derivatives ) cause in first instance growth of enteric pathogens ( growth favouring of enteric pathogens ) followed by washout of the enumerated enteric pathogens strains . the novelty of the invention is that tri - and tetra - oligo - saccharides ( or their extracts or their derivatives ) are usable as a specific growth promoter in animal breeding , while the innovative characteristic of the invention is the enumeration of enteric pathogens in the gastrointestinal tract of the animal , prior to wash - out of the enumerated enteric pathogens . as a result , less diarrhoea and better performances are obtained . moreover , since enteric pathogens are excreted from the animal , healthier animals are obtained . animals can include birds ( poultry , . . . ) and mammalians ( pigs , ruminants , pets , . . . but also humans ). the observed effect is obtained during normal transit of the ( eventually dried ) tri - and tetra - oligo - saccharides ( or an extract or a derivative ) through the gastrointestinal tract of the animal . the present invention relates to a method of using a composition or tri - and tetra - oligo - saccharides or their extracts or their derivatives or mixtures thereof as defined herein to improve the microbial ecosystem in the gastrointestinal tract of the animal by specific enumeration of previously adhered enteric pathogens prior to their specific excretion , in order to improve weight gain , to reduce feed conversion and to improve this way the feed value and health and well - being of the animal ( causing e . g . less diarrhoea ). the present invention relates to a method of using a composition or tri - and / or tetra - oligo - saccharides or their extracts or their derivatives or mixtures thereof as defined herein as specific growth promoter in animal breeding . the present invention relates to a method wherein tri - and / or tetra - oligo - saccharides are composed of pentose saccharides ( such as ribose , arabinose , xylose and lyxose ), hexose saccharides ( such as allose , altrose , gulose , idose , talose and mannose ), glucuronic acid , galacturonic acid or all their derivatives and combinations . this means also that the tri - or tetra - oligo - saccharides are homo - or hetero - oligomers . the present invention relates to a method wherein hexoses are linked to each other by α or β bounds , or combination of both . the present invention relates to a method wherein galacturonic acids are linked to each other by α or β bounds , or combination of both . the present invention relates to a method wherein pentoses are linked to each other by α or β bounds , or combination of both . the present invention relates to a method wherein the observed effect is obtained during normal transit and digestion process of the tri - and tetra - oligo - saccahrides or their extract or their derivative or a mixture thereof , through the gastrointestinal tract of the animal . the present invention relates to a method wherein the tri - and / or tetra - oligo - saccharides or their extracts or their derivatives or mixtures thereof are used of up to about 1 %. the method according to the previous claims , wherein tri - and / or tetra - oligo - saccharides or their extracts or their derivatives or mixtures thereof either alone or in combination with other raw materials or other growth promoting substances , such as antibiotics , probiotics , prebiotics , acids , . . . are used . the present invention relates to a method wherein tri - and / or tetra - oligo - saccharides or their extracts or their derivatives or mixtures thereof are dosed on dry basis at 0 . 125 g / 100 g feed . the present invention relates to a method wherein the enteric pathogens include the genera escherichia , salmonella , shigella , klebsiella , erwinia , yersinia , campylobacter , helicobacter , vibrio , pseudomona as well as other gram negative bacteria . the present invention relates to a method wherein enteric pathogens include the genera norovirus , rotavirus , as well as other viruses . the present invention relates to a method wherein the animal is classified as bird ( poultry , . . . ) or as mammalian ( pig , ruminant , pet , . . . but also humans ) the present invention relates to a method wherein the oligo - saccharides are supplied to the animals in a solid or liquid phase . in order that the present invention may be more clearly understood , the preferred form will be described with reference to the following examples . influence of tri - and tetra - manno - oligo - saccharides on the microbial ecosystem in the gastrointestinal tract of poultry 3 × 40 one day old chickens were provided with following feeds : control feed , control feed supplemented with 3 ppm flavomycin and control feed supplemented with 0 . 025 % tri - and / or tetra - manno - oligo - saccharides . the control feed was a mash feed , composed of raw materials suitable for animal nutrition . water and feed were supplied ad libitum . the chickens were contaminated at day 2 with caecum contents of 3 week old chickens ( most critical period for gastrointestinal problems ). at regular time intervals , chickens were dissected and the enteric pathogen contents in the small intestine were determined by plate counting on macconkey agar . fig1 summarises the results . from fig1 , it is clear that tri - and / or tetra - manno - oligo - saccharides has during the first week a positive effect on enteric bacteria growth / survival . only after one week , the enteric bacteria content in the intestinal tract lowers very quickly , even to a level lower then the control and flavomycin treatment . the same experimental conditions were applied as described in experiment 1 . in this example , daily growth and feed conversion were monitored after 13 days . the results are summarised in table 1 . from table 1 , it can be concluded that use of tri - and / or tetra - galacturonic - oligo - saccharides in this particular test gave similar results as those obtained with a traditional growth promoter ( flavomycin ). nevertheless , the mode of action is not comparable ( see example 1 ) at the start of the trial , 5 piglets were housed per pen . for each pen , one feeder ( ad libitum ) was installed for solid pelleted feed . one drinking nipple was installed per pen . the temperature at start was at 28 ° c . until 10 days after weaning . afterwards , temperature was decreases to 25 ° c . commercial non - medicated diets were given . non - medicated means that the piglet doesn &# 39 ; t receive any therapeutic antibiotics before and during the trial . the diets were given in the form of pellet . design of the trial was as follows : 2 treatments ( co and tr )× 16 replicates × 5 piglets at the start of the trial , the piglets ( about 7 kg body weight ) were allocated to the different pens by weight . this allocation was made in order to have an equal average weight and an equal standard deviation of the average weight for each treatment and pen . at regular time intervals , the piglets were weighed and feed consumption was monitored . this resulted in a daily growth , daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio ( table 2 ). tri and / or tetra - manno - oligo - saccharides were incubated in liquid at a dose of 0 . 025 % at ph 7 . 0 with e . coli k88 and lactobacillus amylovorus cells for 10 minutes . after 10 minutes , agglutination was visualised by means of microscopic analysis . fig2 shows the result . from fig2 , it is clear that tri and / or tetra - 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