Effects of Dietary Supplementation of Humic Substances on Production Parameters, Immune Status and Gut Microbiota of Laying Hens

Dagmar Mudroňová, Viera Karaffová, Boris Semjon, Pavel Naď, Jana Koščová, Martin Bartkovský, Andrej Makiš, Lukáš Bujňák, Jozef Nagy, Jana Mojžišová and Slavomír Marcinčák
Additional contact information
Dagmar Mudroňová: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 041 81 Košice, Slovakia
Viera Karaffová: Department of Morphological Disciplines, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 041 81 Košice, Slovakia
Boris Semjon: Department of Food Hygiene, Technology and Safety, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 041 81 Košice, Slovakia
Pavel Naď: Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Animal Breeding, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 041 81 Košice, Slovakia
Jana Koščová: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 041 81 Košice, Slovakia
Martin Bartkovský: Department of Food Hygiene, Technology and Safety, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 041 81 Košice, Slovakia
Andrej Makiš: Department of Food Hygiene, Technology and Safety, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 041 81 Košice, Slovakia
Lukáš Bujňák: Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Animal Breeding, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 041 81 Košice, Slovakia
Jozef Nagy: Department of Food Hygiene, Technology and Safety, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 041 81 Košice, Slovakia
Jana Mojžišová: Department of Epizootology, Parasitology and Protection of One Health, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, 041 81 Košice, Slovakia
Slavomír Marcinčák: Department of Food Hygiene, Technology and Safety, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Komenského 73, 041 81 Košice, Slovakia

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 8, 1-14

Abstract: Despite the fact that humic substances (HS) have been frequently studied in relation to their effects on livestock health, studies on their influence on egg production and quality, immunity, and intestinal microbiota of laying hens are limited. In this study, the influence of 0.5% HS supplementation on the specific production parameters of eggshell mineral quality, immune parameters (relative expression of IgA, IGF-2, MUC-2 gene in cecum; activity of phagocytes, percentage of selected lymphocyte subpopulations in the peripheral blood), and number of lactic acid bacteria and enterobacteria in the intestinal contents in laying hens was tested. The addition of 0.5% HS to the laying hen feed had a positive effect on egg laying rate, daily egg mass, egg weight, feed conversion and eggshell quality and also had an immunostimulatory effect manifested by increased phagocyte activity and B cell response. Concurrently, an increase in the number of enterobacteria in the intestinal contents and a decrease in the proportion of T lymphocytes ( p < 0.05) was observed, which can be considered as a negative effect of HS. The results confirmed that HS can be used for the improvement of egg production and targeted immunostimulation, but their effect on the intestinal microbiota and T lymphocytes should be studied in more detail.

Keywords: humic substance; egg; immune answer; lymphocyte; intestinal microbiota (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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