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Effects of Chronic Stress and Intestinal Inflammation on Commercial Poultry Health
Modern broiler chickens are most certainly the most visible manifestation of genetic advancements.
Genetic selection, food, health, and management measures carried out intensively have resulted in these successes.
However, it is essential for production to keep the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) in good condition.
As the growing period of broilers shortens and feed efficiency improves, the need for improved health and nutrition programs becomes more apparent.
Because the changes during intestinal growth are minute, they are often overlooked, yet gut health impacts general health and productivity.
Currently, animal production systems require a constant search to reduce the effects of stress and chronic inflammation to improve energy use by producing animals.
Although there is no a “silver bullet” to prevent multifactorial conditions associated with chronic stress, several studies show improvement in intestinal microbial balance, metabolism, and intestinal integrity through alternative products such as:
Probiotics
Prebiotics
Organic acids
Plant extracts
Essential oils
Trace minerals
This being an international scientific trend, due to the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and immunomodulatory effects, as well as improvement in intestinal integrity.
Substitution of antibiotics in production systems with alternative products, improved management practices, strict biosecurity, quality ingredients, absence of diseases (Mycoplasma/Salmonella), and effective immunization programs are efficient strategies for health objectives and productivity.
In this work, we focus on reviewing the significant repercussions of chronic stress and intestinal inflammation on the health and performance of commercial birds.
CHICKEN GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT ARCHITECTURE AND PLAYERS
In addition to absorbing and digesting water and food, the intestinal tract contains a diverse and complex microbial community (Celluzzi and Masotti, 2016), as well as an enteric nervous system (ENS) of metazoans considered the “second brain” of the organism (Schneider et al., 2019).
In addition to this complexity in the structure and microbial relationships, in chickens, the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) contains the highest concentration of immune cells in the organism, showing its relevance (P...
