The effects of the supplementation of multi-strain probiotics on intestinal microbiota, metabolites and inflammation of young SPF chickens challenged with Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica.

This study assessed the effect of probiotics on cecal microbiota, cecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and the gene expression of cytokines in young specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chickens infected with S. enterica subsp. enterica. One-day-old SPF chickens (n = 105) were randomly assigned to one of the three treatment groups: control (Cont) group, Salmonella-infected (Sal) group, and a Salmonella-infected group treated with multi-strain probiotics (ProSal group). All chickens except those in the Cont group were challenged orally with 1 × 108  cfu/ml of Salmonella 4 days after hatching. Chickens in the Sal group exhibited more abundance of Proteobacteria than those in the Cont and ProSal groups. At the genus level, chickens in ProSal group exhibited increased numbers of Lactobacillus and Oscillospira compared with those in the other groups. Chickens in the ProSal group exhibited a significant increase of cecal SCFAs compared with chickens in the Sal group. Chickens in the ProSal group exhibited increased gene expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines, IL-10 and TGF-β4, and decreased expression of the proinflammatory cytokine, IFN-γ, in the cecal tonsil compared with those in the Sal group. The results of this study indicated that the administration of probiotics can modulate microbiota, SCFAs, and immunomodulatory activity in SPF chickens.