Effect of synbiotic on intestinal histomorphometry and growth rate in quails, experimentally infected with field strain of salmonella gallinarum

This study was planned to investigate the effect of synbiotic on intestinalhistomorphometry and the growth rate of quails experimentally infected with a field strain ofSalmonella gallinarum. Day old Japanese quails (120), with an average body weight of 6.09±1.1 g,were randomly assigned into 4 groups A, B, C, and D. Quails of groups A and B were given synbioticon a daily and weekly basis respectively, along with challenge while group C was negative control andgroup D was the positive control group. A total of 60 organ samples of the intestine were collectedfrom apparently healthy and freshly dead quails respectively to isolate the field strain of Salmonellagallinarum. Bacterial isolation and molecular identification were performed in accordance withlaboratory diagnostic culture techniques and PCR. Results from the current study indicate thatnonantibiotic feed additives such as synbiotics boosted the gut histomorphometric parametersincluding the villus height, villus width, and crypt depth under the challenge of Salmonella gallinarum.There was a significant increase in all these parameters due to synbiotic feeding except for the negativecontrol group which showed the lowest values. On day 21, DD achieved a maximum villus height of636.88 ± 65.93b µm in the duodenal mucosa, whereas, maximum villus width of 182.01 ± 15.40c µmin duodenal mucosa was achieved by group AA. Maximum villus height of 276.89 ± 21.16b µm andcrypt depth of 26.66 ± 1.15a µm in jejunum mucosa were recorded in group AA. Statistical results byusing the technique of one-way ANOVAs indicated that there was a significant increase inmorphmetric parameters of duodenal and jejunum mucosa in the groups fed synbiotic as compared tothe negative control. Hence results illustrate that there is an overall increase in histological parametersof duodenal and jejunum mucosa in the groups fed synbiotic as compared with the negative controlgroup. This study supports the beneficial effects of synbiotic on intestinal health and the growth rate ofJapanese quails by improving FCR.