Effects of Dietary Zinc and/or an Herbal Mixture on Intestinal Microbiota and Barrier Integrity in Lambs

Dobroslava Bujňáková, Katarína Kucková, Zora Váradyová, Iveta Plachá, Viola Strompfová, Jan Bohm, Lenka Micenková and Klaudia Čobanová ()
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Dobroslava Bujňáková: Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4-6, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia
Katarína Kucková: Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4-6, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia
Zora Váradyová: Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4-6, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia
Iveta Plachá: Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4-6, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia
Viola Strompfová: Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4-6, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia
Jan Bohm: Recetox, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic
Lenka Micenková: Recetox, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic
Klaudia Čobanová: Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4-6, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-13

Abstract: The purpose of this experiment was to determine the impact of feed supplementation with organic zinc and/or a medicinal plants mixture on the composition and enzymatic activity of intestinal microflora as well as on the duodenal and jejunal barrier integrity in lambs. A total of 28 lambs were randomly allocated into 4 dietary treatments ( n = 7) and were fed an unsupplemented basal diet (BD), or the BD enriched with organic Zn (Zn, 70 mg/kg diet), an herbal mixture (Herbmix, 100 g/day) or a combination of both additives (Zn+Herbmix). The Herbmix contained 33% each of Fumaria officinalis , Malva sylvestris , Matricaria chamomilla and 1% Artemisia absinthium . No significant effect on the fecal microbiota composition was observed due to the 35-day or 70-day dietary treatment. The intake of Zn alone resulted in decreased bacterial enzyme activities, such as β-glucuronidase, N-acetyl-glucosaminidase, β-galactosidase and β-glucosidase. The transepithelial electrical resistance of the small intestinal mucosa was not influenced by the dietary treatment, whereas simultaneous feeding of Zn and Herbmix exhibited higher claudin-1 and occludin levels in the jejunal mucosa. These results indicate that dietary intake of organic zinc and/or medicinal plants in the mentioned dosage did not alter the diversity of intestinal bacteria in growing lambs but did significantly influence bacterial enzyme activity. Supplementing the zinc and herbs combination showed the potential to regulate intestinal permeability by increasing the level of tight junction proteins in the jejunal mucosa.

Keywords: zinc; medicinal herbs; gut bacteria; gut integrity; sheep (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: 2023
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