Effects of in ovo delivered xylo- and mannan- oligosaccharides on growth performance, intestinal immunity, cecal short-chain fatty acids, and cecal microbiota of broilers

Abstract Background This study investigated a novel in ovo feeding strategy to determine the prebiotic effects of xylo- and mannan- oligosaccharides (XOS and MOS) differing in the degree of polymerization. A total of 192 fertilized eggs were divided into 6 treatment groups: i) normal saline control (NSC), ii) xylotriose (XOS3), iii) xylotetraose (XOS4), iv) mannotriose (MOS3), v) mannotetraose (MOS4), and vi) no injection control (NIC), each containing 4 replicate trays with 8 eggs per replicate. On d 17 of incubation, 3 mg of oligosaccharides (except for controls) dissolved in 0.5 mL of 0.85% normal saline were injected into the amnion of Cobb 500 broilers eggs. After hatch, the chicks were raised for 28 d under standard husbandry practices and were fed a commercial broilers diet ad libitum, and samples were collected periodically. Results The hatchability, growth performance, and relative weights of breast, drumstick, liver, and proventriculus were not different among the treatments (P > 0.05). The XOS3 injection increased the total short-chain fatty acid production at d 28 compared with both control groups (P 0.05). On the hatch day, the expression level of the CD3 gene (a T cell marker) was increased by XOS3, while the IL-10 gene (a marker of anti-inflammatory cytokine) was reduced by MOS4 (P 0.05), except XOS4 increased IL-4 compared with NSC (P