Effect of GUSTOR N’RGY and NATESSE on Cecal Microbiota of Broilers Infected with Necrotic Enteritis

The objective of the study presented in the last XVth EPC(Croatia, 2018) by Cristiano Bortoluzzi was to determine the effects of GUSTOR N’RGY (N’RGY) and NATESSE (NAT) on the cecal microbiota of broilers induced to necrotic enteritis (NE). Birds were assigned to 4 treatments: (1) unchallenged and unsupplemented control; (2) challenged and unsupplemented control; (3) N’RGY supplementation and challenged; (4) NAT supplementation and challenged. Cecal excreta was collected at d 12, 18, 21, and 28 for microbiota analysis through 16s rRNA sequencing. NE challenge impaired FCR in the overall experimental period (d 1-41) by 5%, but N’RGY and NAT supplementation completely reverted this effect (p = 0.01). The inclusion of N’RGY or NAT contributed significantly to the establishment of the cecal microbiota. The most abundant genera observed were: Ruminococcus, Lactobacillus, and Bacteroides, followed by unclassified Ruminococcaceae and Clostridiales. In the unchallenged control birds, it was observed that Ruminococcus decreased (p = 0.006), whereas Bacteroides and Clostridiales increased (p ≤ 0.02) as the birds aged. In the challenged control group, however, it was also observed that the frequency of Coprococcus and Blautia decreased as birds aged (p ≤ 0.01) and, Clostridiales did not increase as bird’s ages. Supplementation of N’RGY increased the frequency of Lactobacillus (p = 0.01) on d 12 compared to d 18 and 28, and prevented the reduction in the frequency of Blautia as the birds aged. N’RGY and NAT improved growth performance of NE challenged broilers, partially due to their modulating effects on the cecal microbiota