Abstract
The current study aims to investigate the effects of dietary source of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on immune response in broiler chickens, represented by cytotoxic cell activity. A total of 255 one-day-old male Cobb 500 broiler chickens were fed on fish oil (FO)-, flaxseed oil-enriched diets at 50 and 19 g/kg, respectively, in addition to the soybean-based control diet. At slaughter, samples of blood and spleen were harvested from 20 birds/treatment (n = 20). The immune tissues’ fatty acid profile was analyzed by gas chromatography, and the cytotoxic cell activity was investigated. The results showed that supplementing broiler chickens with diets rich in n-3 PUFA had a substantial effect on the broiler immune tissues’ fatty acid profile. Cytotoxic cell activity was significantly higher in splenocytes and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from broilers fed flaxseed oil than those provided FO and the soybean control diet. These results suggest that flaxseed oil may be used to enrich chickens with n-3 PUFA and improve the immune status of chicken flocks to resist diseases.
Link to Full Text
Key Points
The influence of dietary PUFAs on the immune system has been studied for decades. The coordination of the different immune cells and their activity is important for achieving a healthy immune system. This requires secretion of cytokines and chemokines. The cells from the innate immune stem include macrophages, neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, mast cells, natural killer cells and dendritic cells whereas cells of the adaptive immune system are the B cells and T cells. Some of the immune cells are cytotoxic cells such as Natural Killer (NK) cells and T-cytotoxic cells, these are activated by the interaction of T cell receptor with antigen presenting cells like macrophages or dendritic cells. The effects of dietary omega-3 fatty acids on the abundance of T cells is not clear. This research aimed to explore the influence of feeding broiler chickens on diets rich in fish oil (FO) or flaxseed oil on cytotoxic cell activity in splenocytes and PBMCs of 5 wks old broiler chickens.
This study showed that flaxseed oil and FO did not impact the production performance of the broilers. Although animal oil source (i.e., FO) compared to plant oil source (flaxseed oil) may have an inhibitory effect on NK activity, this effect may be influenced by other cells of the immune system. No other marker of immune function assessed in the study showed significance by EPA or DHA. Overall enrichment of broiler diets with PUFAs can be beneficial for human health and consumption.