Commercial ELISA kits are commonly used to assess the levels of chicken antibodies against NewCastle Disease Virus (NDV) and trace a field strain infection. Nevertheless, the specificity of these kits vis-à-vis e...Commercial ELISA kits are commonly used to assess the levels of chicken antibodies against NewCastle Disease Virus (NDV) and trace a field strain infection. Nevertheless, the specificity of these kits vis-à-vis endemic strains in Lebanon remains in question. This study developed an in-house indirect ELISA system to evaluate the level of chicken antibodies against a predominant velogenic NDV strain belonging to Genotype VI. A checkerboard analysis comprised a five-factorial multivariate experiment to optimize the protocol: coating antigen concentration, blocking buffer utilization, serum and conjugate dilution levels, and OD reading wavelength. The developed test was optimized and then validated through parallel testing of the sera of 20 broilers and 5 layers using standard serological assays. There was a strong correlation between the developed ELISA results and those obtained with the Hemagglutination Inhibition test (P < 0.01), and a commercial NDV ELISA kit (P < 0.05). The specificity, sensitivity, and reproducibility of the developed ELISA suggest that it can be used as the test of choice for the assessment of chicken antibody titers against locally circulating velogenic NDV strains, specifically those belonging to Genotype VI. It also offers better help in the serological detection of birds’ exposure to the said strains.展开更多
This experiment was conducted to determine the performance of heat-stressed layers fed a diet containing the probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum RS5 or its products of fermentation (postbiotics). Twenty-week-old Isa Whi...This experiment was conducted to determine the performance of heat-stressed layers fed a diet containing the probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum RS5 or its products of fermentation (postbiotics). Twenty-week-old Isa White layers, were subdivided into six treatments of 32 individually caged birds. Half of the birds were reared under regular temperature conditions, while the other half was subjected to cyclic daily heat stress. Layers were offered one of three diets: 1) Control;2) Control + Lactobacillus plantarum RS5 probiotic;3) Control + Lactobacillus plantarum RS5 postbiotics. Birds were tested for performance and visceral organ development for 5 months. Heat stress negatively affected the birds’ feed intake, egg weight, shell weight percentage, Haugh unit, shell thickness, yolk color, body weight and spleen weight percentage. Postbiotics significantly increased egg production (p < 0.05) in comparison to the control and the probiotic fed group (94.8% vs 92.6% vs 93.1%, respectively). Birds under probiotic or postbiotic diet showed a significantly higher (p < 0.05) feed intake and egg weight, although the probiotic had a more pronounced and gradual effect. Specific gravity, yolk weight percentage and shell thickness didn’t show differences among dietary groups. The Haugh Unit was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in probiotic group which also showed a significantly lower yolk color index (p < 0.05). The different feed treatments did not impact the bird’s viscera weight percentage, except for the ileum that was significantly lower (p < 0.05) under postbiotic supplementation. Both probiotics and postbiotics could be used as a potential growth promoters and might alleviate heat stress impact in poultry industry.展开更多
文摘Commercial ELISA kits are commonly used to assess the levels of chicken antibodies against NewCastle Disease Virus (NDV) and trace a field strain infection. Nevertheless, the specificity of these kits vis-à-vis endemic strains in Lebanon remains in question. This study developed an in-house indirect ELISA system to evaluate the level of chicken antibodies against a predominant velogenic NDV strain belonging to Genotype VI. A checkerboard analysis comprised a five-factorial multivariate experiment to optimize the protocol: coating antigen concentration, blocking buffer utilization, serum and conjugate dilution levels, and OD reading wavelength. The developed test was optimized and then validated through parallel testing of the sera of 20 broilers and 5 layers using standard serological assays. There was a strong correlation between the developed ELISA results and those obtained with the Hemagglutination Inhibition test (P < 0.01), and a commercial NDV ELISA kit (P < 0.05). The specificity, sensitivity, and reproducibility of the developed ELISA suggest that it can be used as the test of choice for the assessment of chicken antibody titers against locally circulating velogenic NDV strains, specifically those belonging to Genotype VI. It also offers better help in the serological detection of birds’ exposure to the said strains.
文摘This experiment was conducted to determine the performance of heat-stressed layers fed a diet containing the probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum RS5 or its products of fermentation (postbiotics). Twenty-week-old Isa White layers, were subdivided into six treatments of 32 individually caged birds. Half of the birds were reared under regular temperature conditions, while the other half was subjected to cyclic daily heat stress. Layers were offered one of three diets: 1) Control;2) Control + Lactobacillus plantarum RS5 probiotic;3) Control + Lactobacillus plantarum RS5 postbiotics. Birds were tested for performance and visceral organ development for 5 months. Heat stress negatively affected the birds’ feed intake, egg weight, shell weight percentage, Haugh unit, shell thickness, yolk color, body weight and spleen weight percentage. Postbiotics significantly increased egg production (p < 0.05) in comparison to the control and the probiotic fed group (94.8% vs 92.6% vs 93.1%, respectively). Birds under probiotic or postbiotic diet showed a significantly higher (p < 0.05) feed intake and egg weight, although the probiotic had a more pronounced and gradual effect. Specific gravity, yolk weight percentage and shell thickness didn’t show differences among dietary groups. The Haugh Unit was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in probiotic group which also showed a significantly lower yolk color index (p < 0.05). The different feed treatments did not impact the bird’s viscera weight percentage, except for the ileum that was significantly lower (p < 0.05) under postbiotic supplementation. Both probiotics and postbiotics could be used as a potential growth promoters and might alleviate heat stress impact in poultry industry.
