Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T07:22:09.766Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Rabbit dietary supplementation with pale purple coneflower. 2. Effects on the performances, bacterial community, blood parameters and immunity of growing rabbits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2016

A. Kovitvadhi*
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Turin, Italy
F. Gai
Affiliation:
Institute of Science of Food Production, National Research Council, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Turin, Italy
S. Dabbou
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Turin, Italy
I. Ferrocino
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Turin, Italy
L. Rotolo
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Turin, Italy
M. Falzone
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Turin, Italy
C. Vignolini
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Turin, Italy
M. S. Gennero
Affiliation:
Veterinary Medical Research Institute for Piemonte, Liguria and the Valle D’Aosta, via Bologna 148, 10154 Turin, Italy
S. Bergagna
Affiliation:
Veterinary Medical Research Institute for Piemonte, Liguria and the Valle D’Aosta, via Bologna 148, 10154 Turin, Italy
Daniela Dezzutto
Affiliation:
Veterinary Medical Research Institute for Piemonte, Liguria and the Valle D’Aosta, via Bologna 148, 10154 Turin, Italy
R. Barbero
Affiliation:
Veterinary Medical Research Institute for Piemonte, Liguria and the Valle D’Aosta, via Bologna 148, 10154 Turin, Italy
P. Nebbia
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Turin, Italy
S. Rosati
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Turin, Italy
L. Cocolin
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Turin, Italy
I. Zoccarato
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Turin, Italy
L. Gasco
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Turin, Italy Institute of Science of Food Production, National Research Council, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Turin, Italy
*
Get access

Abstract

Echinacea pallida (EPAL), a herbaceous flowering plant with immunomodulatory properties, has been chosen to determine the pre- and post-supplementary effects on the growth performances, bacterial community, blood parameters and immunity of growing rabbits. The same Grimaud does (14-week-old) from the studied in the first part of this study were randomly divided into two groups (n=50/group). The first group was fed a basal diet without supplementation (Control group, C) while the another group was fed a basal diet supplemented with 3 g EPAL/kg diet (Echinacea group, E). From the second parturition, 80 weaned kits (40 from the C does and 40 from the E does) were randomly assigned to four groups of 20 animals each and were fed a growing commercial diet supplemented with or without a 3 g EPAL/kg diet: the CC group (rabbits from the C does fed the control diet), CE group (rabbits from the C does fed the supplemented diet), EC (rabbits from the E does fed the control diet) and EE group (rabbits from the E does fed the supplemented diet). The dietary EPAL treatment did not affect the growth performance. Ten fattening rabbits from each group were selected to evaluate the bacterial community and blood parameters, while the remaining rabbits (n=10/group) were used to study phagocytosis and the humoral immune response. The variability was evaluated from hard faeces at 35, 49 and 89 days, and the caecal content at 89 days. The variability of the bacterial community of the EE group was higher than that of the other groups. The phagocytic activity was higher in the CE and EE groups than in the CC and EC ones (30.9 and 29.7 v. 21.2 and 21.8%; P<0.05), whereas no statistically significant difference was observed for the blood parameters or humoral immune response against vaccination (rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus) at 95 days old which the serum was collected at 88, 102, 109, 116 and 123 days old. In conclusion, no impact of EPAL dietary supplementation has been observed on the growth performances, bacterial community, blood parameters or humoral immune responses in growing rabbits, except for an increase in phagocytic activities.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahmed, HS, Kamel, KI, El-Sabeiy, ME and Zeitouny, MH 2008. Effect of Echinacea extract supplementation on growth performance and hemo-biochemical traits of growing rabbits. Egypt Poultry Science 28, 11651180.Google Scholar
Arafa, NMS, Salem, SM and Farid, OAHA 2010. Influence of Echinacea extract pre- or postnatal supplementation on immune and oxidative status of growing rabbits. Italian Journal of Animal Science 9, 338343.Google Scholar
Barnes, J, Anderson, L, Gibbons, S and Phillipson, J 2005. Echinacea species (Echinacea angustifolia (DC.) Hell., Echinacea pallida (Nutt.) Nutt., Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench): a review of their chemistry, pharmacology and clinical properties. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 57, 929954.Google Scholar
Böhmer, BM, Salisch, H, Paulicks, BR and Roth, FX 2009. Echinacea purpurea as a potential immunostimulatory feed additive in laying hens and fattening pigs by intermittent application. Livestock Science 122, 8185.Google Scholar
Christaki, E, Bonos, E, Giannenas, I and Florou-Paneri, P 2012. Aromatic plants as a source of bioactive compounds. Agriculture 2, 228243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Classen, B, Thude, S, Blaschek, W, Wack, M and Bodinet, C 2006. Immunomodulatory effects of arabinogalactan-proteins from Baptisia and Echinacea . Phytomedicine 13, 688694.Google Scholar
Combes, S, Fortun-Lamothe, L, Cauquil, L and Gidenne, T 2013. Engineering the rabbit digestive ecosystem to improve digestive health and efficacy. Animal 7, 14291439.Google Scholar
Combes, S, Michelland, R, Monteils, V, Cauquil, L, Soulié, V, Tran, N, Gidenne, T and Fortun-Lamothe, L 2011. Postnatal developmentof the rabbit caecal microbiota composition and activity. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 77, 680689.Google Scholar
Dabbou, S, Rotolo, L, Kovitvadhi, A, Bergagna, S, Dezzutto, D, Barbero, R, Rubiolo, P, Schiavone, A, De Marco, M, Helal, A N, Zoccarato, I and Gasco, L 2016. Rabbit dietary supplementation with pale purple coneflower. 1. Effects on the reproductive performance and immune parameters of does. Animal, doi:10.1017/S1751731115002979.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Egert, D and Beuscher, N 1992. Studies on antigen specifity of immunoreactive arabinogalactan proteins extracted from Baptisia tinctoria and Echinacea purpurea . Planta Medica 58, 163165.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Franz, C, Baser, KHC and Windisch, W 2010. Essential oils and aromatic plants in animal feeding-a European perspective. a review. Flavour and Fragrance Journal 25, 327340.Google Scholar
Gidenne, T, Combes, S, Feugier, A, Jehl, N, Arveux, P, Boisot, P, Briens, C, Corrent, E, Fortune, H, Montessuy, S and Verdelhan, S 2009. Feed restriction strategy in the growing rabbit. 2. Impact on digestive health, growth and carcass characteristics . Animal 3, 509515.Google Scholar
Hermann, JR, Honeyman, MS, Zimmerman, JJ, Thacker, BJ, Holden, PJ and Chang, CC 2003. Effect of dietary Echinacea purpurea on viremia and performance in porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus-infected nursery pigs. Journal of Animal Science 81, 21392144.Google Scholar
Hudson, J, Vimalanathan, S, Kang, L, Amigue, VT, Livesey, J and Arnason, JT 2005. Characterization of antiviral activities in Echinacea root preparations. Pharmaceutical Biology 43, 790796.Google Scholar
IBM SPSS 2012. IBM SPSS Statistics 20.0. SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL, USA.Google Scholar
Kraus, GA, Bae, J, Wu, L and Wurtele, E 2007. The synthesis and natural distribution of the major ketone constituents in Echinacea pallida . Molecules 12, 406414.Google Scholar
Ma, A, Shi, W, Niu, X, Wang, M and Zhong, X 2009. Effects of Echinacea purpurea extract on the immunological response to infectious bursal disease vaccine in broilers. Frontiers of Agriculture in China 3, 452456.Google Scholar
Maass, N, Bauer, J, Paulicks, BR, Böhmer, BM and Roth-Maier, DA 2005. Efficiency of Echinacea purpurea on performance and immune status in pigs. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition 89, 244252.Google Scholar
Michelland, RJ, Combes, S, Monteils, V, Cauquil, L, Gidenne, T and Fortun-Lamothe, L 2010. Molecular analysis of the bacterial community in digestive tract of rabbit. Anaerobe 16, 6165.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Michelland, RJ, Combes, S, Monteils, V, Cauquil, L, Gidenne, T and Fortun-Lamothe, L 2011. Rapid adaptation of the bacterial community in the growing rabbit caecum after a change in dietary fibre supply. Animal 5, 17611768.Google Scholar
Muyzer, G, Waal, E and Uitterlinden, A 1993. Profiling of complex microbial populations by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of polymerase chain reaction amplified genes coding for 16S rRNA. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 59, 695700.Google Scholar
Ragap, HM, Khalil, RH and Mutawie, HH 2012. Immunostimulant effects of dietary Spirulina platensis on tilapia Oreochromis niloticus . Journal of Applied Pharmaceutical Science 2, 2631.Google Scholar
Sahin, T, Ozlem, K and Mehmet, S 2012. Effects of ground Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) supplementation quail diets on growth performance and carcass traits. Kafkas Universitesi Veteriner Fakultesi Dergisi 18, 1519.Google Scholar
Tizard, I 2013. Veterinary immunology, 9th edition. Elsevier Saunders, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.Google Scholar
Varga, M 2014. Text book of rabbit medicine, 2nd edition. Butterworth–Heinemann, Oxford, UK.Google Scholar
Zhai, Z, Liu, Y, Wu, L, Senchina, DS, Wurtele, ES, Murphy, PA, Kohut, ML and Cunnick, JE 2007. Enhancement of innate and adaptive immune functions by multiple Echinacea species. Journal of Medicinal Food 10, 423434.Google Scholar