Dietary amino acids affect intestinal Clostridium perfringens populations in broiler chickens

Abstract

An experiment was performed to examine the effect of protein source and dietary amino acid profile on intestinal levels of C. perfringens in broiler chickens. Broiler chickens (age = 14 d; n = 192) were fed diets containing 400 g kg-1 crude protein with fish meal, meat/bone meal, feather meal, corn gluten meal, soy protein concentrate, pea protein concentrate, or potato protein concentrate as the primary protein source along with a control diet containing 230 g kg-1 crude protein. The birds were orally inoculated daily, with 1 mL (~1.0 × 108 CFU mL-1) of an overnight culture of C. perfringens between 14 and 21 d of age, killed at 28 d of age and C. perfringens numbers in ileum and cecum were enumerated. Birds fed fish meal, meat/bone meal, feather meal and potato protein concentrate had significantly higher intestinal C. perfringens counts than the birds fed corn gluten meal, soy or pea protein concentrates or the control diet (P < 0.05). The glycine content of the diets and ileal contents was significantly, positively correlated with C. perfringens numbers in ileum and cecum. Dietary glycine may be an important factor in the intestinal overgrowth of C. perfringens in broiler chickens. Key words: Clostridium perfringens, broiler chicken, amino acid, glycine, necrotic enteritis