IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v13y2023i9p1819-d1241444.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of Dietary Zinc and/or an Herbal Mixture on Intestinal Microbiota and Barrier Integrity in Lambs

Author

Listed:
  • Dobroslava Bujňáková

    (Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4-6, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia)

  • Katarína Kucková

    (Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4-6, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia)

  • Zora Váradyová

    (Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4-6, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia)

  • Iveta Plachá

    (Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4-6, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia)

  • Viola Strompfová

    (Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4-6, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia)

  • Jan Bohm

    (Recetox, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic)

  • Lenka Micenková

    (Recetox, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic
    Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic)

  • Klaudia Čobanová

    (Institute of Animal Physiology, Centre of Biosciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Šoltésovej 4-6, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia)

Abstract

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the impact of feed supplementation with organic zinc and/or a medicinal plants mixture on the composition and enzymatic activity of intestinal microflora as well as on the duodenal and jejunal barrier integrity in lambs. A total of 28 lambs were randomly allocated into 4 dietary treatments ( n = 7) and were fed an unsupplemented basal diet (BD), or the BD enriched with organic Zn (Zn, 70 mg/kg diet), an herbal mixture (Herbmix, 100 g/day) or a combination of both additives (Zn+Herbmix). The Herbmix contained 33% each of Fumaria officinalis , Malva sylvestris , Matricaria chamomilla and 1% Artemisia absinthium . No significant effect on the fecal microbiota composition was observed due to the 35-day or 70-day dietary treatment. The intake of Zn alone resulted in decreased bacterial enzyme activities, such as β-glucuronidase, N-acetyl-glucosaminidase, β-galactosidase and β-glucosidase. The transepithelial electrical resistance of the small intestinal mucosa was not influenced by the dietary treatment, whereas simultaneous feeding of Zn and Herbmix exhibited higher claudin-1 and occludin levels in the jejunal mucosa. These results indicate that dietary intake of organic zinc and/or medicinal plants in the mentioned dosage did not alter the diversity of intestinal bacteria in growing lambs but did significantly influence bacterial enzyme activity. Supplementing the zinc and herbs combination showed the potential to regulate intestinal permeability by increasing the level of tight junction proteins in the jejunal mucosa.

Suggested Citation

  • Dobroslava Bujňáková & Katarína Kucková & Zora Váradyová & Iveta Plachá & Viola Strompfová & Jan Bohm & Lenka Micenková & Klaudia Čobanová, 2023. "Effects of Dietary Zinc and/or an Herbal Mixture on Intestinal Microbiota and Barrier Integrity in Lambs," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-13, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:13:y:2023:i:9:p:1819-:d:1241444
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/9/1819/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/9/1819/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bożena Króliczewska & Ewa Pecka-Kiełb & Jolanta Bujok, 2023. "Strategies Used to Reduce Methane Emissions from Ruminants: Controversies and Issues," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-26, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Erica Hargety Kimei & Devotha G. Nyambo & Neema Mduma & Shubi Kaijage, 2024. "Review of Sources of Uncertainty and Techniques Used in Uncertainty Quantification and Sensitivity Analysis to Estimate Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ruminants," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-15, March.
    2. Federico Infascelli & Nadia Musco & Daria Lotito & Eleonora Pacifico & Sara Matuozzo & Fabio Zicarelli & Piera Iommelli & Raffaella Tudisco & Pietro Lombardi, 2023. "The “Noble Method ® ”: A One Health Approach for a Sustainable Improvement in Dairy Farming," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-16, October.
    3. Barbara Wróbel & Waldemar Zielewicz & Mariola Staniak, 2023. "Challenges of Pasture Feeding Systems—Opportunities and Constraints," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-31, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:13:y:2023:i:9:p:1819-:d:1241444. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.