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A great interest is placed on the influence of probiotic, prebiotic and synbiotic preparations on animals in accordance with the principle of One health. The small intestine mucosa represents a complex ecosystem ensuring the homeostasis of the animal organism. The effect of Lacto-Immuno-Vital synbiotic preparation on the quantity of mucin produced in the broiler chicken small intestine was studied. The chickens (7 days old Hybrid ROSS 308) were divided into 3 equal size (n = 16) groups, housed in separate halls: control group (CG), and two experimental groups that received syn-biotic preparation Lacto-Immuno-Vital, – one with continuous synbiotic administration (EGC), and another with pulsed synbiotic administration (EGP). The preparation was administered to EGC group from the experimental day 1 to day 7 continuously every day (500 g per 1000 l of drinking water.day−1), and to EGP group from experimental day 8 to day 22 in a pulsed manner (every third day) at a dose of 300 g per 1000 l of drinking water. The experiment lasted 22 days. A significant effect on mucus production quantity was found in the duodenum (P < 0.001), in EG after both types of synbiotic supplementation compared to CG. The comparison of continuous and pulsed supplementation was as follows: a significant effect (P < 0.001) was observed after continuous supplementation of the synbiotic preparation, compared to pulsed supplementation in EG.

This investigation was performed to assess the supplementation of probiotics on cytokine expression and lymphocyte subpopulation in Campylobacter colichallenged chickens. Thirty-six individuals were equally separated into four experimental treatments: C = untreated chickens, LB = probiotic control (Lactobacillus fermentum), Cc = Campylobacter-challenged control, LBCc = probiotic + Cc. All chicks were slaughtered and cecum samples were collected on day 4 postinfection. Gene expression analysis, using reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), revealed significant differences in cytokine transcript expression between untreated and probiotic-treated chickens. In addition, flow cytometry was used to quantitate the levels of lymphocyte subpopulations. Principal component analysis showed that probiotic administration induced an overall downregulation of cytokine expression. C. coliexposure provoked a similar response to that of L. fermentumbut to a lesser extent. Colonization of C. coliin the presence of the probiotic evoked a complex response with an upregulation of some type II cytokines, including interleukin IL-4 and IL-13, which could explain the increased presence of antibodies in both lamina propria and epithelium. Moreover, despite that the percentage of CD8 intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) was found to be higher, downregulation of proinflammatory cytokines IL-15, IL-16, and interferon γ was observed. This suggests that the detected CD8 are not effector cells but induced IELs, which release antimicrobial peptides, and are ready to be primed upon encountering antigen. These outcomes demonstrate that probiotic administration promotes a humoral response to a C. coliinfection while dampening any potential inflammation mediated by effector T cells in 1-week-old chicks.