Influence of zinc sulfate and threonine supplementation on mucin 5ac gene expression in the small intestine and intestinal mucosal morphology in broiler chickens

ABSTRACT

A 42-day feeding trial was carried out to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation of zinc and threonine on the integrity of intestinal mucosa and expression of intestinal mucin 5ac (MUC5AC) gene in broiler chickens. A total of 640-day-old Arbor Acres broiler chicks were allocated to four dietary treatments with eight replicates of 20 birds in a completely randomized design. The experimental diets included T₀: control (standard diet), T_1: standard diet + 40 mg/kg Zinc Sulfate (ZnSO₄), T₂: standard diet + 2% L-Threonine (L-Thr) and T₃: standard diet + (40 mg/kg ZnSO₄+ 0.2% L-Threonine (L-Thr)). During the starter phase, the average daily gain and body weight of birds fed the T₁ diet was lower (p < 0.05) than T₂ and T0. The villus height (VH) of the jejunum in T₂ was longer (p < 0.05) than in T₀ and T₃. In the ileum, VH for T₁ was longer (p < 0.05) than for T₀. The MUC5AC mRNA expression in the duodenum at the starter phase was lower (p < 0.05) in T₃ than in T₂ while in the jejunum, T₁ was higher (p < 0.05) than the other treatment groups. The supplementation of zinc and threonine in the diet can improve the intestinal integrity of broiler chickens.

KEYWORDS:

• Essential nutrients
• intestinal mucosa
• mucin
• threonine
• zinc

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Jerome Parobali, Wang Minghui, Jiangxue Cai and Zhao Mei for their support and assistance with the animal experiment and guidance with laboratory analysis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

All data used is available and can be provided upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The authors are much grateful to the World Bank grant International Development of Association (IDA) 5424 through the Regional Center of Excellence in Poultry Science, (CERSA) of the University of Lomé (Togo) for sponsoring this study.