Dietary supplementation with modified arabinoxylan rice bran (MGN-3) modulates inflammatory responses in broiler chickens

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation with modified arabinoxylan rice bran (MGN-3) on the immune system and inflammatory response in broiler chickens. The levels of cluster of differentiation 3 (CD3), interleukin (IL)-2 and interferon (IFN)-γ mRNA in the spleen of chickens increased with the supplementation of MGN-3 at 100 ppm in diet, while those expression levels in the foregut did not change. Mitogeninduced proliferation of splenic mononuclear cells (MNC) and blood MNC phagocytosis in chickens fed MGN-3- supplemented diets were significantly greater than in chickens fed a basal diet (control). These results provide the first evidence that the use of dietary MGN-3 supplementation induces the T-cell immune system in chickens. Two hours after Escherichia coli (E. coli) lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced immune stimulation, the levels of mRNA encoding pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-2, IFN-γ and tumor necrosis factor-like ligand 1A (TL1A), in the spleen of chickens fed a MGN-3-supplemented diet were significantly lower than those in chickens exposed to other treatments. The levels of toll-like receptor -4 and -7 mRNAs in the foregut of chickens fed MGN-3 supplemented diets were lower than those in control chickens at 2h after injection of LPS. The plasma ceruloplasmin concentration in chickens fed a MGN-3-supplemented diet was significantly lower than in controls at 24h after injection of LPS. These results show that MGN-3 might be useful as an immunomodulator to stimulate T-cells in growing broiler chickens, thereby protecting chickens from disease, particularly colibacillosos, without reducing growth performance.