Protection of the intestinal epithelium of poultry against deleterious effects of dietary lectins by a multi-strain bacterial supplement

The intake of antinutritional factors produce impairment on the intestinal digestive function, impeding the efficient use of nutrients. Probiotics could be useful in poultry breeding to prevent negative effects of antinutritional factors, like the dietary lectins soybean agglutinin (SBA) and wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). Therefore, this investigation aimed to verify that SBA and wheat, which contains WGA, exert harmful effects on the intestinal mucosa and the digestive system of young poultry, and determine if the administration of probiotics able to capture lectins could counteract their effects. The trials performed demonstrated that a mixture of Bifidobacterium infantis CRL 1395, Enterococcus faecium LET 301, Lactobacillus salivarius LET 201, L. reuteri LET 210, and Propionibacterium acidipropionici LET 103, strains with ex vivo ability to interfere with the interaction of lectins and epithelial cells, has no negative effect on young chickens health. Middle levels of SBA, as well as wheat as a source of WGA, resulted in lower activities of intestinal and brush border enzymes and alterations in the integrity and morphological parameters of the chicks jejunal mucosa. The bacteria blend increased the activity of several digestive enzymes and the intestinal maturation marker alkaline phosphatase in birds fed with a conventional diet. Besides, it partially countered the deleterious effects of increased content of SBA, as well as the negative effect of a dietary source of WGA, on digestive enzymes activity and intestinal mucosa integrity. The results highlight the capability of multifunctional bacterial mixtures to protect the digestive system of avian against residual dietary lectins.