Necrotic enteritis is a worldwide poultry disease caused by the overgrowth of Clostridium perfringens in the small intestine, explain D. Liu of China Agricultural University and co-authors in their paper published in Avian Pathology earlier this year.

They conducted an experiment with a 2×2 factorial design (supplementation with or without 40 mg lysozyme/kg diet for chickens challenged with or without C. perfringens) to investigate the inhibitory efficacy of exogenous lysozyme against intestinal colonisation by C. perfringens in chickens subject to oral inoculation of C. perfringens type A on days 17 to 20.

The C. perfringens challenge resulted in significant increases in C. perfringens, Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus populations in the ileum, bacteria translocation to the spleen and intestinal lesion scores. There was significantly lower intestinal lysozyme activity in the duodenum and jejunum and weight gain during days 14 to 28 of the experiment.

The addition of exogenous lysozyme significantly reduced the concentration of C. perfringens in the ileum and the intestinal lesion scores, inhibited the overgrowth of E. coli and Lactobacillus in the ileum and intestinal bacteria translocation to the spleen, and improved intestinal lysozyme activity in the duodenum and the feed conversion ratio of chickens.

These findings suggest that exogenous lysozyme could decrease C. perfringens colonisation and improve intestinal barrier function and growth performance of chickens, concluded Liu and co-authors.

Reference

Liu D., Y. Guo, Z. Wang and J. Yuan. 2010. Exogenous lysozyme influences Clostridium perfringens colonization and intestinal barrier function in broiler chickens. Avian Pathology. 39 (1): 17-24. DOI: 10.1080/03079450903447404

Further Reading

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Further Reading

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