• Increased bacterial resistance to antibiotics in humans has caused an increase in public
and governmental interest in eliminating sub-therapeutic use of antibiotics in livestock.
An alternative approach to sub-therapeutic antibiotics in livestock is the use of probiotic microorganisms,
prebioticsubstrates that enrich certain bacterial populations, or synbiotic combinations of prebiotics and probiotics.
• Probiotics are widely used in poultry to improve innate and adaptive immunity.
• Inhibition of enteric pathogens by the probiotic has been called bacterial antagonism,
bacterial interference, barrier effect, colonization resistance, and competitive exclusion.
• A number of studies have reported the efficacy of probiotic lactic acid bacteria such as
Streptococcus thermophiles, several Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species to enhance
the immune response and to protect poultry against different influenza strains/serotypes.
• Various Lactobacillus sp., Enterococcus faecium, Bifidobacterium bifidum
and Aspergillus oryzaeimproved immune response of broiler chickens
and prevented the mortality and morbidity.
• Research over the last century has shown that lactic acid bacteria and certain
other microorganisms can increase resistance to disease and that lactic acid bacteria can be enriched
in the intestinal tract by feeding specific carbohydrates.
• The Bacillus subtilis candidate treatment also demonstrated effective antimicrobial properties
against C. perfringens, which could be due to production of antimicrobial-like compounds
and/or competition for nutrients, Furthermore, the Bacillus spp. showed a variable ability to produce cellulase
and xylanase, hence, in addition to the benefits that spores or vegetative cells can provide as probiotics,
they may improve the digestibility of cereals with high-soluble NSP (Non Starch Polysaccharides).
• Probiotics could be successfully used as nutritional tools in poultry feeds for promotion of growth,
modulation of intestinal microflora and pathogen inhibition, immunomodulation
and promoting meat quality of poultry.