XENOFOOD—An Autoclaved Feed Supplement Containing Autoclavable Antimicrobial Peptides—Exerts Anticoccidial GI Activity, and Causes Bursa Enlargement, but Has No Detectable Harmful Effects in Broiler Cockerels despite In Vitro Detectable Cytotoxicity on LHM Cells
András Fodor,
Tibor Vellai,
Claudia Hess,
László Makrai,
Károly Dublecz,
László Pál,
Andor Molnár,
Michael G. Klein,
Eustachio Tarasco,
Sándor Józsa,
Petra Ganas,
Michael Hess
Affiliations
András Fodor
Department of Genetics, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány P. Sétány 1C, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
Tibor Vellai
Department of Genetics, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány P. Sétány 1C, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
Claudia Hess
Clinic for Poultry and Fish Medicine, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine (Vetmeduni Vienna), 1210 Vienna, Austria
László Makrai
Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Veterinary Medicine, H-1581 Budapest, Hungary
Károly Dublecz
Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Georgikon Campus, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE), Deák Ferenc utca 16, H-8360 Keszthely, Hungary
László Pál
Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Georgikon Campus, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE), Deák Ferenc utca 16, H-8360 Keszthely, Hungary
Andor Molnár
Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Georgikon Campus, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE), Deák Ferenc utca 16, H-8360 Keszthely, Hungary
Michael G. Klein
USDA-ARS & Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University, 13416 Claremont Ave., Cleveland, OH 44130, USA
Eustachio Tarasco
Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Via Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy
Sándor Józsa
Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Georgikon Campus, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE), Deák Ferenc utca 16, H-8360 Keszthely, Hungary
Petra Ganas
Clinic for Poultry and Fish Medicine, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine (Vetmeduni Vienna), 1210 Vienna, Austria
Michael Hess
Clinic for Poultry and Fish Medicine, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine (Vetmeduni Vienna), 1210 Vienna, Austria
Entomopathogenic bacteria are obligate symbionts of entomopathogenic nematode (EPN) species. These bacteria biosynthesize and release non-ribosomal-templated hybrid peptides (NR-AMPs), with strong, and large-spectral antimicrobial potential, capable of inactivating pathogens belonging to different prokaryote, and eukaryote taxa. The cell-free conditioned culture media (CFCM) of Xenorhabdus budapestensis and X. szentirmaii efficiently inactivate poultry pathogens like Clostridium, Histomonas, and Eimeria. To learn whether a bio-preparation containing antimicrobial peptides of Xenorhabdus origin with accompanying (in vitro detectable) cytotoxic effects could be considered a safely applicable preventive feed supplement, we conducted a 42-day feeding experiment on freshly hatched broiler cockerels. XENOFOOD (containing autoclaved X. budapestensis, and X. szentirmaii cultures developed on chicken food) were consumed by the birds. The XENOFOOD exerted detectable gastrointestinal (GI) activity (reducing the numbers of the colony-forming Clostridium perfringens units in the lower jejunum. No animal was lost in the experiment. Neither the body weight, growth rate, feed-conversion ratio, nor organ-weight data differed between the control (C) and treated (T) groups, indicating that the XENOFOOD diet did not result in any detectable adverse effects. We suppose that the parameters indicating a moderate enlargement of bursas of Fabricius (average weight, size, and individual bursa/spleen weight-ratios) in the XENOFOOD-fed group must be an indirect indication that the bursa-controlled humoral immune system neutralized the cytotoxic ingredients of the XENOFOOD in the blood, not allowing to reach their critical cytotoxic concentration in the sensitive tissues.
