Administration of a Postbiotic Causes Immunomodulatory Responses in Broiler Gut and Reduces Disease Pathogenesis Following Challenge

Abstract

With the reemergence of poultry diseases such as necrotic enteritis following the restriction of in-feed antibiotics, the search for antibiotic alternatives has become critically important. Postbiotics are non-viable bacterial products or metabolic byproducts from probiotic microorganisms that have positive effects on the host or microbiota. These are a promising alternative to antibiotics. Here, we describe the mechanism of action of a postbiotic in the context of a Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens) challenge model. By using performance measurements and a peptide array kinome analysis, we describe the kinotypes and signal transduction changes elicited by the postbiotic with and without C. perfringens challenge. The postbiotic improves lesion scores, C. perfringens counts and mortality compared to challenge groups without the postbiotic, and it improves weight gain in the most severely challenged birds. The postbiotic predominantly affects the innate immune response and appears immunomodulatory. In the context of infection, it reduces the proinflammatory responses and generates a homeostatic-like response. This postbiotic is a viable alternative to antibiotics to improve poultry health in the context of C. perfringens pathogen challenge.