Effects of combination of mannan-oligosaccharides and β-glucan on growth performance, intestinal morphology, and immune gene expression in broiler chickens

The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of the combination of mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS) and β-glucan on growth performance, intestinal morphology, and immune gene expression in broiler chickens. A total of 640, one-day-old male Cobb 500 broilers were randomly allocated into 32 pens with 8 replicates and 20 birds per pen. Thirty-two pens were divided into 4 treatments, including control, 0.04% MOS, 0.002% β-glucan, and a combination of MOS and β-glucan. Growth performance was measured on d14, 28, and 35. The ileum and cecal tonsils were collected from one bird per pen at 21 and 35 d of age for further analyses of immune gene expression. Duodenum, jejunum, and ileum were collected for intestinal morphology on d 35. Results indicated that both MOS and β-glucan improved growth performance during starter phase (P < 0.05). In addition, β-glucan further increased body weight gain of birds from d 0 to 28 (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the combination of MOS and β-glucan presented higher villi height in the jejunum on d 35 (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences for gene expressions of immune responses on d 21 and 35. In conclusion, the application of prebiotic combination of MOS and β-glucan might perform multiple pathways, improving growth performance in broiler chickens.