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. 2016 Mar;9(3):269-75.
doi: 10.14202/vetworld.2016.269-275. Epub 2016 Mar 12.

Histomorphological studies of broiler chicken fed diets supplemented with either raw or enzyme treated dandelion leaves and fenugreek seeds

Saim Qureshi  1 , Mohammed Tufail Banday  1 , Irfan Shakeel  1 , Sheikh Adil  1 , Masood Saleem Mir  2 , Yasir Afzal Beigh  3 , Umar Amin  2
Affiliations

Histomorphological studies of broiler chicken fed diets supplemented with either raw or enzyme treated dandelion leaves and fenugreek seeds

Saim Qureshi et al. Vet World. 2016 Mar.

Abstract

Aim: Herbal plants and their derived products are extensively used particularly in many Asian, African, and other countries of the world as they are considered as ideal feed additives because of their non-residual effect and ability to influence the ecosystem of gastrointestinal microbiota in a positive way. Further, the enzymatic treatment of these herbs helps in their efficient utilization by the host. Dandelion leaves and fenugreek seeds have been reported to have positive effect in terms of improving the performance of broiler chicken, but not much literature is available regarding their effect on gut histomorphology; therefore, the present study was conducted to explore the effect of these herbs either alone or in combination with or without enzyme treatment on histomorphology of liver and small intestine of broiler chicken.

Materials and methods: To achieve the envisaged objective, 273-day-old commercial broiler chicks were procured from a reputed source and reared together until 7 days of age. On the 7(th) day, the chicks were individually weighed, distributed randomly into 7 groups of 3 replicates with 13 chicks each. Birds in the control group were fed diets without additives (T1). The other six treatment groups were fed the basal diet supplemented with 0.5% dandelion leaves (T2), 1% fenugreek seeds (T3), combination of 0.5% dandelion leaves and 1% fenugreek seeds (T4), enzyme treated dandelion leaves 0.5% (T5), enzyme treated fenugreek seeds 1% (T6), and combination of enzyme treated dandelion leaves (0.5%) and (1%) fenugreek seeds (T7). The histomorphological study of liver and small intestines was conducted among different treatment groups.

Results: The results revealed the hepato-protective nature of both dandelion leaves and fenugreek seeds either alone or in combination with or without enzyme treatment when compared with the control group. Moreover, the histomorphological findings of jejunum revealed the beneficial effect of dandelion leaves, fenugreek seeds and enzymes on the intestinal mucosa in terms of cellular infiltration, architecture of villi, villus height/crypt depth ratio, thereby improving the intestinal health.

Conclusion: The dandelion leaves and fenugreek seeds have hepato-protective nature and beneficial effect on the intestinal morphology particularly when included along with enzymes in the diet of broiler chicken.

Keywords: broiler chicken; dandelion; fenugreek; histomorphology.

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Figures

Figure-1
Figure-1
Liver from control group (T1) showing mild degree of inflammation with occasional Kupffer cell hyperplasia and distortion of hepatic cords (H and E, ×4).
Figure-2
Figure-2
Liver from control group (T1) showing heterophil aggregates (H and E, ×4).
Figure-3
Figure-3
Liver from T2 showing occasional and only mild perivascular mononuclear cell infiltration (H and E, ×4).
Figure-4
Figure-4
Liver from T3 showing less Kupffer cell hyperplasia and perivascular mononuclear cell infiltration (H and E, ×4).
Figure-5
Figure-5
Liver from T4 showing hepatocyte regeneration and less heterophil infiltration (H and E, ×4).
Figure-6
Figure-6
Liver from T5 showing less hepatocellular degenerative changes and diffuse inflammatory cell infiltration (H and E, ×4).
Figure-7
Figure-7
Liver from T6 showing less hepatocellular degenerative changes and diffuse inflammatory cell infiltration (H and E, ×4).
Figure-8
Figure-8
Liver from T7 showing normal architecture and beneficial effect on liver (H and E, ×4).
Figure-9
Figure-9
Jejunum from control group (T1) showing mucous degeneration of glandular epithelium at certain places (H and E, ×2.5).
Figure-10
Figure-10
Jejunum from control group (T1) showing diffuse infiltration of inflammatory cells, predominantly heterophils and clubbing of villi (H and E, ×2.5).
Figure-11
Figure-11
Jejunum from T2 showing normal villus architecture with mild cellular infiltration in mucosa and sub-mucosa (H and E, ×2.5).
Figure-12
Figure-12
Jejunum from T3 showing normal villus architecture with increase in thickness of villus, less and occasional areas of distortion (H and E, ×2.5).
Figure-13
Figure-13
Jejunum from T4 showing normal villus architecture, increase in height of villi (H and E, ×2.5).
Figure-14
Figure-14
Jejunum from T5 showing normal villus architecture, increase in height of villus, occasional areas of cellular infiltration (H and E, ×2.5).
Figure-15
Figure-15
Jejunum from T6 showing thickening of villi and increase in height of villi (H and E, ×2.5).
Figure-16
Figure-16
Jejunum from T7 showing normal villus architecture with increase in thickness and height of villus, occasional areas of cellular infiltration compared to control group (H and E, ×2.5).
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