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Dysbacteriosis – A Complex Problem in Poultry 1*
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Yallappa M. Somagond , Gaurav Kumar , Pooja Devi and Mahesh Kajagar 1
Research Scholar, Animal Physiology Division, ICAR-NDRI, Karnal-132001 2 MVSc (Animal Nutrition), KVASU, Kerala 1* Corresponding author Email – somagondyallappa@gmail.com
Yallappa M. Somagond Gut health is pivotal to the development, health and well being of production animals. Chicken's gastrointestinal tract plays an important role in the preservation of digestive function through its ability to modify host physiological processes required to maintain intestinal microbiota, primarily by eliminating harmful m i c ro o rg a n i s m s a n d pa t h o g e n s , preventing invasion, and hence preventing colony formation. The role of commensal microbiota and balance of intestinal microbiota is more important for gut health and production performance of poultry. An effective and sustainable GIT (Gastrointestinal tract) physiology requires balanced intestinal health. Enhanced gut health, which explains improved growth and FCR, contributes to better digestion and absorption of nutrients. Commensal microbiota helps in the production of intestinal mor-phological structures, modulates immune responses, provides defence against intestinal diseases and helps to enhance nutrient digestion and absorption. The GIT functions include digestive, absorbant, metabolism, immunology and endocrinology. Any disruption in GIT microbiota will affect one or more of the these systemic functions. The word dysbacteriasis was coined in the mid 1990s for the first time to describe a digestive imbalances in
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p o u l t r y w h i c h w a s k n o w n to b e correlated with many changes in animal production and conditions. Dysbacteria or dysbiosis is character-ised as a disease-associated "imbalance" in the gut microbial population. The increase or loss of group members or changes in relative microbial abundance may be responsible for this imbalance. This imbalance is due to three fundamental reasons: (1) Commensal flora insufficiency (2) Diversity loss: a significant imbalance in the usual commensal flora (3) Infective flora interacting with the commensal microbiome. This disequibrilium is often marked by inflammation and shortening of the intestines, these effects production performance of birds.There fore by eliminating pathogenic bacteria and fostering beneficial bacteria, it is necessar y to maintain a healthy intestinal microflora. Healthy poultry intestinal health is closely correlated with the typical gastrointestinal microflora's ecological balance and production performance.
Figure 1: Spatial distribution of most common and abundant bacterial taxa in GIT of chicken (Shang et al. 2018)
The most common and abundant bacterial taxa spatially distributed in GIT of chicken In the Gastrointestinal system of the chicken, each bacterium is adapted to its
own ecological niche and synergistic with other bacterial species in the same population. Depending on bird age, location and dietary components of the GI system, the composition and function of such groups have been found to vary. Causes of dysbacteriosis or altered microbiota In birds affected with dysbacteriosis or dysbiosis there is more involvement of bacteroidetes and clostridium species. Important changes have been identified in intestinal microbiota in relation tothe host genotype. Dietary effects have been identified for the bowel microbiota and an growing protein density contributing to an increase in microbiota members mainly bacteroidetes and clostridium family. Dysbiosis may be attributed to starvation cycles or intestinal injuries caused by anti-nutrition factors, mycotoxins, rancid and enteropathogens like coccidiosis. It is worth noting that dysfunctional micro-flora is of t e n a s s o c i a t e d w i t h i n t e s t i n a l problems and decreased growth or degradation in feed conversion. Factors leading to dysbacteriosis or dysbiosis: Main contributing factors are following: 1. Stress and immuno suppression: Healthy gut environment is often influenced by many stress factors for birds, such as handling, transport, overcrowding, sudden environmental changes etc., Any stressful condition in poultry may predispose them to growth of pathogenic bacteria, as they may alter the intestinal environment to increase the risk of pathogens. 2. Dietary factors: Diet and feed management can greatly impact the
Poultry Planner | Vol. 22 | No.07 | September - 2020
