Academic Journal
Effects of dietary red seaweed (Gracilaria tenuistipitata) supplementation on growth performance, intestinal health, immune responses and meat quality in broiler chickens.
| Τίτλος: | Effects of dietary red seaweed (Gracilaria tenuistipitata) supplementation on growth performance, intestinal health, immune responses and meat quality in broiler chickens. |
|---|---|
| Συγγραφείς: | Annadurai P; Department of Poultry Science, Madras Veterinary College, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS), Chennai, 600007, Tamil Nadu, India., Churchil RR; Department of Poultry Science, Madras Veterinary College, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS), Chennai, 600007, Tamil Nadu, India. drchurchil@gmail.com., Sundaram M; Department of Animal Biotechnology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Madras Veterinary College, TANUVAS, Chennai, 600007, Tamil Nadu, India., Subbiah EV; Pharmacovigilance Laboratory for Animal Feed and Food Safety, TANUVAS, Madhavaram Milk Colony, Chennai, 600051, Tamil Nadu, India., Kondusamy A; Nutrition, Genetics and Biotechnology Division, ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, Chennai, 600028, Tamil Nadu, India., Peter EP; Aquatic Animal Health and Environment Division, ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, Chennai, 600028, Tamil Nadu, India., Kumar P; Indsalus Biosolutions Private Limited, Bengaluru, 560097, Karnataka, India., Rajan P; Department of Poultry Science, Madras Veterinary College, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS), Chennai, 600007, Tamil Nadu, India., Gnanavel VK; Department of Poultry Science, Madras Veterinary College, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS), Chennai, 600007, Tamil Nadu, India. |
| Πηγή: | Tropical animal health and production [Trop Anim Health Prod] 2026 Oct 10; Vol. 58 (8). Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Oct 10. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Springer Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 1277355 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1573-7438 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00494747 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Trop Anim Health Prod Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: 2005- : Heidelberg : Springer Original Publication: Edinburgh, Livingstone. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Gracilaria*/chemistry , Chickens*/growth & development , Chickens*/immunology , Chickens*/microbiology , Chickens*/physiology , Intestines*/physiology , Intestines*/drug effects , Intestines*/anatomy & histology , Meat*/analysis , Meat*/standards , Seaweed*/chemistry, Dietary Supplements/analysis ; Animal Feed/analysis ; Diet/veterinary ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome/drug effects ; Animals ; Male ; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena ; Random Allocation |
| Περίληψη: | The present study evaluated the effects of graded dietary inclusion of Gracilaria tenuistipitata on growth performance, meat composition, intestinal morphology, gut microbiota, immune response and intestinal immune gene expression in broiler chickens. A total of 200 one-day-old commercial broiler chicks were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments containing 0% (control), 1%, 2% and 4% dietary red seaweed and reared for 35 days. Average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) were significantly (P < 0.05) reduced during the starter and early grower phases at 4% inclusion, whereas birds receiving 1-2% red seaweed maintained growth performance comparable to the control. Feed conversion ratio was transiently impaired at 4% inclusion during early growth but did not differ among treatments over the entire experimental period. Overall ADG was significantly (P < 0.05) lower at 4% inclusion, while livability remained unaffected. Breast meat proximate and mineral composition were not altered by seaweed supplementation; however, selective enrichment of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was observed at 2% inclusion. Histomorphometric evaluation revealed improved villus development and mucosal adaptation, particularly at 1-2% inclusion. Caecal microbiota analysis demonstrated reduced Escherichia coli and increased Lactobacillus populations in seaweed-fed groups. Humoral immune response against Newcastle disease virus remained unaffected, whereas increased expression of TLR2A, IL6 and CLDN2 indicated modulation of intestinal immune and barrier-regulatory pathways. Overall, dietary inclusion of G. tenuistipitata at 1-2% appears to support favourable changes in gut health and intestinal immune-related responses while maintaining overall growth performance comparable to the control, whereas higher inclusion levels may impose nutritional limitations on growth. (© 2026. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declarations. Ethical approval: All experimental procedures involving animals were conducted in accordance with CPCSEA guidelines and were approved by the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC approval number 23/SA/IAEC/2024) and the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBSC approval number 1302/DFBS/12/2025) of Madras Veterinary College, TANUVAS, Chennai, India. Consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent to publish: Not applicable. Use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process: During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used ChatGPT (OpenAI) solely for language editing and improvement of clarity. All scientific content, interpretation, analysis and conclusions were developed by the authors. The manuscript was critically reviewed and approved by all authors, who take full responsibility for the final content. Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. |
| References: | Vet Med Sci. 2023 Jul;9(4):1666-1674. (PMID: 37156247) Animals (Basel). 2022 Jul 02;12(13):. (PMID: 35804618) Carbohydr Polym. 2026 Feb 1;373:124621. (PMID: 41320400) J Anim Sci Biotechnol. 2023 Oct 10;14(1):132. (PMID: 37814279) Front Immunol. 2023 Dec 01;14:1295230. (PMID: 38106420) Animals (Basel). 2021 Aug 02;11(8):. (PMID: 34438737) PLoS One. 2014 Dec 05;9(12):e114195. (PMID: 25478789) Vet World. 2025 Feb;18(2):508-518. (PMID: 40182811) Asian-Australas J Anim Sci. 2018 Oct;31(10):1654-1659. (PMID: 29642670) Front Vet Sci. 2021 Jan 20;7:586813. (PMID: 33553275) Animals (Basel). 2021 Apr 27;11(5):. (PMID: 33925270) Poult Sci. 2018 Jun 1;97(6):1881-1890. (PMID: 29509916) Int J Biol Sci. 2021 Jan 1;17(1):204-219. (PMID: 33390844) Vet Rec. 1974 Aug 10;95(6):120-3. (PMID: 4446306) Front Nutr. 2021 Nov 29;8:783819. (PMID: 34912840) J Sci Food Agric. 2021 Feb;101(3):997-1008. (PMID: 32761828) Animals (Basel). 2020 Apr 27;10(5):. (PMID: 32349360) Methods. 2001 Dec;25(4):402-8. (PMID: 11846609) Mar Drugs. 2025 Aug 10;23(8):. (PMID: 40863641) Poult Sci. 2022 Apr;101(4):101696. (PMID: 35150942) Vet Microbiol. 2017 Jul;206:126-136. (PMID: 28024856) J Anim Sci. 2003 Dec;81(12):3250-4. (PMID: 14677882) Animals (Basel). 2021 Dec 19;11(12):. (PMID: 34944376) Poult Sci. 2003 Feb;82(2):320-7. (PMID: 12619811) |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Gracilaria tenuistipitata; Broiler nutrition; Gut microbiota; Immune gene expression; Intestinal morphology |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20261010 Date Completed: 20261011 Latest Revision: 20261013 |
| Update Code: | 20261013 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s11250-026-05384-0 |
| PMID: | 42859276 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1573-7438 |
|---|---|
| DOI: | 10.1007/s11250-026-05384-0 |