• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.64-70
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• 2017

Objective: In the present study, role of increasing levels of Ecklonia cava (seaweed) supplementation in diets was investigated on growth performance, coefficient of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD) of nutrients, serum immunoglobulins, cecal microflora and intestinal morphology of weanling pigs. Methods: A total of 200 weaned pigs (Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire${\times}$Duroc; initial body weight $7.08{\pm}0.15kg$) were randomly allotted to 4 treatments on the basis of body weight. There were 5 replicate pens in each treatment including 10 pigs of each. Treatments were divided by dietary Ecklonia cava supplementation levels (0%, 0.05%, 0.1%, or 0.15%) in growing-finishing diets. There were 2 diet formulation phases throughout the experiment. The pigs were offered the diets ad libitum for the entire period of experiment in meal form. Results: The pigs fed with increasing dietary concentrations of Ecklonia cava had linear increase (p<0.05) in the overall average daily gain, however, there were no significant differences in gain to feed ratio, CTTAD of dry matter and crude protein at both phase I and phase II. Digestibility of gross energy was linearly improved (p<0.05) in phase II. At day 28, pigs fed Ecklonia cava had greater (linear, p<0.05) Lactobacillus spp., fewer Escherichia coli (E. coli) spp. (linear, p<0.05) and a tendency to have fewer cecal Clostridium spp. (p = 0.077). The total anaerobic bacteria were not affected with supplementation of Ecklonia cava in diets. Polynomial contrasts analysis revealed that villus height of the ileum exhibited a linear increase (p<0.05) in response with the increase in the level of dietary Ecklonia cava. However, villus height of duodenum and jejunum, crypt depth, villus height to crypt depth ratio of different segments of the intestine were not affected. Conclusion: The results suggest that Ecklonia cava had beneficial effects on the growth performance, cecal microflora, and intestinal morphology of weanling pigs.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.582-586
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• 2005

In this Study, we have attempted to determine the effects of dietary fructose polymers (fructan), high molecular-weight ${\beta}-(2,6)-linked$ levan, and low-molecular-weight ${\beta}-(2,1)-linked$ inulin, on two intestinal enzymes $({\beta}-glucuronidase\;and\;{\beta}-glucosidase)$. As a preliminary experiment, when intestinal microflora were cultured in anaerobic media harboring levan or its oligosaccharides, bacterial cell growth was observed in the levanoligosaccharide-supplemented media, but not in the levan-supplemented media, indicating that levan's size is important for the utilization by intestinal bacteria of levan as an energy Source. In our animal study, the intake of a levan-rich diet was determined to significantly attenuate the activity of the harmful enzyme $({\beta}-glucuronidase$, but d id not affect the activity of ${\beta}-glucosidase$.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.348-353
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• 2003

Generally, two different types of fructose polymer are found in nature. One is inulin, whose fructosyl residues are linked mainly by a ${\beta}-(2,1)-linkage$, while the other is high-molecular-weight levan, whose fructosyl residues are linked mainly by a ${\beta}-(2,6)-linkage$. In contrast to the extensive studies on the prebiotic properties of inulin, there has been no report on the effect of levan on the large bowel microflora in viva. Therefore, to examine whether dietary levan can be used as a prebiotic, Sprague-Dawley male rats were fed one of two diets for 3 weeks: 1) basal diet plus sucrose; 2) basal diet plus 10% (wt/wt) levan. The cecal bowel mass, cecal and colon short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), pH, and microflora were then compared. The intake of the levan-containing diet significantly increased the total cecal weight and wall weight. The analyses of the SCFAs in the cecal and colonic contents revealed that levan was converted into acetate, butyrate, and lactate, which resulted in acidic conditions. The intake of levan also significantly increased the total number of microorganisms by 5-fold and lactic acid-producing bacteria (LAB) 30-fold in the feces. Accordingly, the current work shows that levan can be used as a prebiotic for stimulating the growth of LAB in an animal model.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.1673-1679
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• 2003

Two hundred forty 1-d-old Arbor Acres broiler chicks were used to investigate the effects of Cu (II)-exchanged montmorillonite (CEM) or montmorillonite on the growth performance, intestinal microflora, bacterial enzyme activities and morphology of broilers. The chicks were assigned randomly into three groups with 80 chicks per treatment. The three dietary treatments were basal diet only (control group), basal diet +1 g $kg^{-1}$ montmorillonite, and basal diet +1 g $kg^{-1}$ CEM. The results showed that the addition of CEM to the diet increased significantly the body weight and feed efficiency, but a similarly significant increase was not found in broilers fed the diet containing montmorillonite. Supplementing the CEM in the diet of broilers also decreased the numbers of Clostridium perfringens and Escherichia coli in the small intestine and cecum. The addition of either CEM or montmorillonite to the diet depressed the activities of $\beta$-glucosidase and $\beta$-glucuronidase in the small intestinal and cecal contents. Data of villus height and crypt depth for duodenum, jejunum and ileum indicated that dietary addition of CEM or montmorillonite improved the small intestinal mucosal morphology.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1749-1754
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• 2014

The current experiment was designed to evaluate the efficacy of adding the multi-enzyme mixture (Natuzyme) into layers' diets with different levels of energy and available phosphorus in relation to laying performance, egg qualities, blood cholesterol level, microflora and intestinal viscosity. Two hundred and fifty 43-wk-old Hy-Line commercial layers were divided into five groups with five replicates per group (10 birds per replicate) and fed one of five experimental diets. A corn and soybean meal-based control diet was formulated and used as a control diet. Two experimental control diets were formulated to reduce energy and crude protein contents (rE) or energy, crude protein and phosphorus contents (rEP). In addition, Natuzyme was added into either rE (rE-Natu500) or rEP (rEP-Natu500) diet to reach a concentration of 500 mg per kg of diet. The experiment lasted 8 weeks. There were no significant differences in feed intake, egg production, egg weight, egg qualities such as eggshell color or Haugh unit, total cholesterol, relative organ weights and cecal microflora profiles between any dietary treatments. Natu500 supplementation into the rE diet, but not rEP diet significantly increased egg mass and eggshell qualities such as strength and thickness, but it decreased cecal ammonia concentration and intestinal viscosity in laying hens. In conclusion, the present study shows that adding multiple enzyme preparation could improve performance of laying hens fed energy and protein restricted diets.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.183-191
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• 2018

The study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of Lactobacillus, medicinal plants extract, and essential oil on laying performance, cecal microflora, relative organic weight, leucocyte profiles in laying hens against Salmonella gallinarum. A total of 100 Hy-Line Brown laying hens of 65 weeks of age were assigned into 5 dietary treatments supplemented with no antibiotic (negative control), antibiotic (positive control), Lactobacillus 0.1% (LB), medicinal plants extract 100 ppm (MPE), herb extract 100 ppm (EO). After 7 days of treatment, the 20 hens in each treatment group were divided into challenge group (n=10) and non-challenge group (n=10) for oral administration of Salmonella gallinarums, and were maintained in the same dietary treatments for two additional weeks. Laying hens were selected 20 by each treatment, splitting up into oral Salmonella group and nontreated group. The feeding trial lasted for one weeks and Salmonella gallinarum was orally administered for two weeks. Egg production, egg weight, egg mass, and feed conversion ratio were calculated and cecal microflora, relative organ, and blood were collected at the end of experiment. Compared with the control, laying hens fed Lactobacillus, medical plant extract, and essential oil were not observed to change of laying performance. Salmonella count increased significantly when Salmonella gallinarum was orally administered (P<0.05) but coliform bacteria and Lactobacillus counts were not affected. The relative organs weight was not different in hens with oral administration of Salmonella gallinarum and also in hens fed Lactobacillus, medical plant extract, and essential oil. H/L ratio was not significantly different, but total leucocyte level was somewhat increased in the treatment with oral administration of Salmonella gallinarum and more leucocyte increased in laying hens fed Lactobacillus, medical plant extract, and essential oil than control.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.15-25
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• 2001

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of feeding two strains of Lactobacillus and virginiamycin on performance, nutrients digestibility and intestinal microflora of broiler chicks(Abor acres$\times$Abor Acres) were randomly allocated into six treatments with four replications for five weeks. Control(no supplement), 0.05% virginiamycin(VM), Lactobacillus crispatus avibro1(LC), Lactobacillus reuteri avibro2(LR), LC+0.05% VM(LC+VM), LR+0.05% VM(LR+VM) were supplemented into basal diets, which contained ME 3,100kcal/kg and CP 22.0, 20.0% for starting and finishing period, respectively. Weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion(FC) were weekly measured. Nutrients digestibility, intestinal microflora and fecal noxious gas were examined at the end of experiment. Weight gains of chicks fed Lactobacillus or VM was significantly higher than control(P〈0.05). Feed intake increased significantly in those supplemental groups(P〈0.05). FC of chicks fed Lactobacillus or VM significantly lower than control(P〈0.05). Degestibility of crude protein, calcium, and phosphorus improved significantly in alone or combined Lactobacillus treatments(P〈0.05). Whereas DM, crude fat and ash digestibility were not statistically different. Feeding Lactobacilli tended to increase the total Lactobacillus spp. in ileum at one and three weeks of age(WOA) and showed significantly higher in cecum than control at 5 WOA. Total yeast were not shown difference at 1 and 3 WOA, but significantly increased at 5 WOA(P〈0.05). The ileal and cecal anaerobes were started to increase from the first WOA. Fecal NH$_3$gas tended to decrease in Lactobacillus treatments compared to that of other treatments.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.1027-1032
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• 2008

A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary yeast derived ${\beta}$-glucan and single-strain probiotics on the growth performance and antibody response in broiler chicks. Six hundred and thirty 1-d-old male broiler chicks were divided into seven groups, placed into three pens per group (30 birds per pen) and fed one of seven non-medicated corn-SBM based experimental diets containing 0.025, 0.05 or 0.1% Saccharomyces cerevisiae ${\beta}$-glucan and 0.05, 0.1 or 0.2% Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (BA-pro, $1.3{\times}10^9/g$) or devoid of them for 5 wk. The body weight gains in groups fed diets containing 0.025 or 0.1% ${\beta}$-glucan, 0.1% or 0.2% BA-pro were significantly higher (p<0.05) than the control over 1-35 d. Feed conversion rates of groups fed ${\beta}$-glucan and BA-pro tended to be improved compared to the control group. There were no significant differences in the relative weights of liver, abdominal fat and breast muscle. No significant differences were observed in the activities of serum enzymes and concentrations of various cholesterol fractions. The antibody titers against Newcastle disease or infectious bronchitis virus in the chicks fed diets containing ${\beta}$-glucan and BA-pro were significantly higher (p<0.05) than in the control. The concentrations of cecal lactic acid bacteria in all groups fed BA-pro were significantly increased (p<0.05) compared to the control. These results indicated that dietary yeast derived ${\beta}$-glucan and BA-pro exerted growth-promoting and immune-enhancing effects in broiler chickens. In addition, BA-pro added to the diets modulated the profiles of cecal microflora, reflecting a potential to be beneficial microorganisms in chickens.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.137-141
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• 2007

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary yeast (Saccharomyces exguus) supplementation on growth performance, cecal microflora and fecal ammonia gas in broiler chicks. A total of two hundred seventy, 1-d-old male broiler chicks (Ross strain) were randomly allotted to nine pens (replicates), 30 birds per pen. There were three dietary treatments with three replicates. The treatments were control (virginiamycin 0.05%+salinomycin 0.03%), Saccharomyces exguus 0.5 and 1.0%. Total body weight gain were significantly higher in Saccharomyces exguus1 1.0% treatment than the control (P<0.05). Although not significant, the yeast supplementation tended to improve the feed conversion ratio. No significant differences were observed on the numbers of cecal E. coli, Salmonella and Lactobacillus in yeast treatments compared to those of control. The production of fecal ammonia gas was significantly lower in yeast treatments than the control (P<0.05). The concentrations of fecal short chain fatty acids and volatile organic compounds were not different among the groups. These results suggest the possibility that yeast (Saccharomyces exguus) could be used as the alternative of antibiotic growth promoters by improving the performance of broiler chicks. In addition, dietary yeast could improve the environment of broiler houses by reducing fecal ammonia production.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.169-175
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• 2000

Epidemiological and experimental studies provide evidences that diet and intestinal microflora play an important role in colon carcinogenesis. In recent years, it has been suggested that lactic acid bacteria (LAB) used to ferment dairy products have an inhibitory effect on the colon cancer. This study was designed to determine the effect of Bifidobacterium longum HY8001 (Bif) and Lactobacillus acidophilus HY2104(Lac) of Korean origin on azoxymethane (AOM)-induced colonic preneoplastic lesions such as aberrant crypt foci(ACF) formation and cecal pH. At five weeks of age, Spraque-Dawley rats were divided at random into four (AOM alone, Bif, ,Lac, and Bif+Lac) groups. Animals were weighed weekly and oral administration of LAB cultures were performed daily until the termination of the study. Two weeks later, all animals were given a subcutaneous injection of AOM dissolved in normal saline at a dose of 15 mg/kg of body weight once per week for 2 weeks. All rats were necropsied 7 weeks after the last AOM injection , and the ACF were visualize under light microscopy in the formalin-fixed, unsectioned methylene blue-stained colons. The total number of aberrant crypt in Bif, Lac, and Bif+Lac groups were significantly lower than that of the AOM alone group and the percentage of inhibitions weas 35.0, 45.6%, respectively. Significant inhibition (p<0.001) in the total number of ACF was also observed in LAB treated groups (Bif , Lac, and Bif+Lac group by 3003, 38.6, and 41.2%, respectively). Furthermore, cecal pH appeared to significantly decrease by LAB administration. The results of present study provide some evidences for potential colon tumor-inhibitory properties of lactic cultures and fermented dairy products.