Effects of probiotic supplementation on growth performance, intestinal barrier function, and oxidative stress in broiler chickens fed a deoxynivalenol-contaminated diet

The mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) contaminates chicken feed and negatively impacts intestinal health and overall production performance. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of lactic acid bacteria and DON toxicity on production performance, intestinal morphology and absorptive function, and oxidative stress in broiler chickens. A total of 432 day-old-Ross 308 chicks were assigned to treatments arranged as a 2 × 3 factorial with mycotoxin (0 mg, noM; 5 mg/kg, M) and probiotic [0 cfu/kg, noP; 1.0 × 10⁹ cfu/kg Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA); or 1.0 × 10⁷ cfu/kg FloraMax-PW (FM), made of LA and Pediococcus acidilactici] and raised for 22 days. Body weight, average daily gain, average daily feed intake, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were not affected (P = 0.130) by mycotoxin or mycotoxin × probiotic interaction for any days. However, FCR was reduced (P = 0.050) in FM compared to noP for days 8-15. Mycotoxin reduced villus height and villus height-to-crypt depth ratio (P = 0.029 and P = 0.027, respectively) in the jejunum. The level of jejunal zonula occludens-2 mRNA was reduced (P = 0.040) in M+noP and M+LA compared to noM+noP, noM+FM, noM+LA, and M+FM chickens. Ileal occludin and zonula occludens-2 mRNA expressions were increased (P < 0.001 and P = 0.011, respectively) by mycotoxin, and claudin-1 expression was increased (P = 0.029) by FM. Immunoglobulin A mRNA expression was increased (P = 0.020) in FM compared to noP while that of polymeric immunoglobulin receptor was increased (P = 0.004) in FM and LA in the ileum. Plasma catalase activity was reduced (P < 0.001) in M+noP compared to other treatments while that of glutathione reductase was increased (P = 0.036) by DON. In conclusion, DON at 5 mg/kg of feed did not affect production performance, but reduced intestinal morphology, which was not prevented by probiotics. The supplementation of FM improved the overall oxidative status in response to DON. In addition, FM improved intestinal immune genes expression in the context of this study.