Department of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Animal Science, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Shahid Beheshti Ave, Gorgan, Iran.
Research and Development Department, Kianpharmino Group Co, Amol, Mazandaran, Iran.
Trop Anim Health Prod. 2022 Sep 10;54(5):289. doi: 10.1007/s11250-022-03274-9.
Essential oils, extracts, their components, and other non-antibiotic beneficial additives are becoming increasingly popular as naturally occurring immunomodulatory agents. A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a blend (hereafter refers to as ImmunoMax (IMX)) of peppermint, coneflower, thyme, propolis, and prebiotic on performance, immune response, hematological indices, and serum biochemistry of broiler chickens. A total of 300 day-old broiler male chicks were randomly assigned to 4 treatments: control (A) (not treated), 0.25 mL/L (B), 0.5 mL/L (C), and 1 mL/L (D) supplementing drinking water with IMX on alternate days, starting at day 21. The results demonstrated a higher body weight gain (BWG) and feed intake (FI) in groups B, C, and D (P < 0.05) with no significant difference in FCR. The results also revealed a superior immune response to NDV, IB, and IBD (P < 0.05), albeit no constant linear response. The largest portion of the heterophil, the smallest amount of the lymphocyte, and therefore the highest heterophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (H:L) were observed in the control group, while the lowest ratio belonged to groups B and C (P < 0.05). Hemoglobin content, hematocrit, total number of red blood cells (RBC), and white blood cells (WBC) were also affected by IMX, showing a significant rise compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Administering 0.25 mL/L of IMX resulted a higher thigh and breast yield as well as the smallest amount of abdominal fat (P < 0.05). The serum content of total protein (TP) and albumin (ALB) was superior in groups receiving 0.25 and 0.5 mL/L of IMX; these treatments also yielded an inferior content of glucose (GLU), triglycerides (TG), cholesterol (CHOL), LDL, and VLDL, in addition to causing the highest content of HDL (P < 0.05). The results obtained in this study revealed the immunomodulatory efficacy of a standardized natural multidrug, IMX, thereby improving the performance and carcass yield of modern broiler chickens with the optimal dosages of 0.25 and 0.5 mL/L.
精油、提取物、其成分和其他非抗生素有益添加剂作为天然免疫调节剂越来越受欢迎。本研究旨在评估薄荷、松果菊、百里香、蜂胶和益生元混合物（以下简称 ImmunoMax（IMX））对肉鸡生产性能、免疫反应、血液学指标和血清生化特性的影响。共选取 300 只 21 日龄的雄性肉鸡，随机分为 4 组：对照组（A）（未处理）、0.25 mL/L（B）、0.5 mL/L（C）和 1.0 mL/L（D），每天交替在饮水中添加 IMX，试验期 42 天。结果表明，B、C 和 D 组的平均日增重（BWG）和采食量（FI）更高（P<0.05），但料重比（FCR）没有显著差异。结果还表明，对 NDV、IB 和 IBD 的免疫反应更好（P<0.05），尽管没有呈线性关系。对照组的异嗜白细胞比例最高，淋巴细胞比例最低，因此异嗜白细胞与淋巴细胞比值（H:L）最高，而 B 和 C 组的比值最低（P<0.05）。血红蛋白含量、红细胞压积、红细胞总数（RBC）和白细胞总数（WBC）也受 IMX 影响，与对照组相比显著升高（P<0.05）。添加 0.25 mL/L 的 IMX 可提高胸肌和腿肌产量，降低腹脂率（P<0.05）。接受 0.25 和 0.5 mL/L IMX 处理的鸡血清总蛋白（TP）和白蛋白（ALB）含量更高，而葡萄糖（GLU）、甘油三酯（TG）、胆固醇（CHOL）、低密度脂蛋白（LDL）和极低密度脂蛋白（VLDL）含量更低，高密度脂蛋白（HDL）含量更高（P<0.05）。本研究结果表明，标准化天然多药物 IMX 具有免疫调节作用，可提高现代肉鸡的生产性能和胴体产量，最佳剂量为 0.25 和 0.5 mL/L。
