Dietary Factors as Triggers of Low-Grade Chronic Intestinal Inflammation in Poultry

Inflammation is the reaction of the immune system to an injury; it is aimed at the recovery and repair of damaged tissue. The inflammatory response can be beneficial to the animal since it will reestablish tissue homeostasis if well regulated. However, if it is not controlled, inflammation might lead to a chronic response with a subsequent loss of tissue function. The intestine is constantly exposed to a number of environmental triggers that stimulate inflammation and lead to a reduction in performance. The diet and dietary components constitute consistent inflammatory triggers in poultry. Dietary components, such as anti-nutritional compounds, oxidized lipids, mycotoxins, and excess of soluble fiber or protein, are all capable of inducing a low-grade inflammatory response in the intestine of broilers throughout a 5-week grow-out period. We hypothesized that dietary factor-induced chronic intestinal inflammation is a key driver of the lower performance and higher incidence of intestinal problems observed in poultry production. Therefore, this review was aimed at exploring feed-induced chronic inflammation in poultry, the constituents of the diet that might act as inflammatory triggers and the possible effects of chronic intestinal inflammation on the poultry industry.