Wheat (Triticum aestivum) bran derived polysaccharides, Arabinoxylans (AXs), were evaluated for their immunostimulatory and protective efficacy against Eimeria infection in chickens.
Humoral response revealed significantly higher total Igs, IgG and IgM titres at day 7 and 14 post primary and secondary injections of sheep red blood cells in the experimental chickens administered with AXs as compared to those of control group.
The percent protection and daily weight gains were significantly higher in the chickens of experimental groups as compared to control; whereas, mean oocyst per gram of droppings and lesion scores were significantly higher in control group as compared to chickens in the experimental groups.
The differences in organ body weight ratio of all the lymphoid organs were statistically non-significant between experimental and control groups except thymus and caecal tonsils.
Conclusion
Arabinoxylans showed both immunostimulatory and protective effects against coccidiosis in broiler chickens.