Feed trial reduces C. perfringens in broilers

A previous study conducted by Diamond V on the effects of feeding Original XPC to broilers challenged with Clostridium perfringens, in that study Original XPC reduced intestinal lesions; 2) increased body weight gain; and 3) improved feed conversion in birds challenged with C. perfringens .

To further investigate the effects of Original XPC on clostridia, the results reported here are from challenge trials using an in vitro model (IAMM: Intestinal Activity Modifier Model¹).

Two separate trials were conducted to evaluate the effects of Original XPC using an in vitro intestinal model on terminal pH, volatile fatty acids (VFA) and subsequent growth of either C. perfringens or C. septicum following a challenge.

In both trials, broiler chickens were used as donors for faecal inoculum. Faecal material was collected over a period of 2 hours and transferred to the lab for Diamond V 2 processing. IAMM procedures were performed as described in the previously reported methods (1). Ten replicates were included for each treatment.

In Trial 1, the challenge dose for C. perfringens was 2.7 x 104 CFU/ml, and in Trial 2, the challenge dose for C. septicum was 7.5 x 104 CFU/ml. After a 24-hour incubation in Trial 1, serially diluted samples were plated on C. perfringens selective medium (TSC) consisting of an agar base (CM05878BPreston), and the selective supplement (Oxoid # SR0088E). Plates were incubated at

37oC, under strict anaerobic conditions (90% N; 5% H2; 5% CO2). C. perfringens counts from this study are reported in log 10 CFU/ml.

In Trial 2, real time PCR was performed on 20 ml of the fermentation mixture from IAMM that was centrifuged at 8,000 rpm for 10 minutes. The resulting pellet was subjected to DNA extraction using a kit from Zymo Research. DNA was quantitated using a NanoDrop and diluted to 10 ng/μL. 2 μL of DNA was used per reaction.

Each reaction was run in triplicate. SsoFast Evagreen Supermix (BioRad) was used to amplify with the Universal Bacteria primers (3). iTaq Universal SYBR Green Supermix (BioRad) was used to amplify with the C. septicum primers (4). C. septicum data from this study are presented as % total bacteria DNA. Gas Chromatography (GC) was used to determine Volatile Fatty Acid (VFA) concentrations in both studies.

You can read more on this trial by clicking here.