Dietary Selenium-Enriched Bacillus subtilis Improves Feed Utilization and Modulates Selected Responses to LPS Challenge in Laying Hens
4 affiliations
- 1Hebei Key Laboratory of Specialty Animal Germplasm Resources Exploration and Innovation, College of Animal Science and Technology, Hebei Normal University of Science and Technology, Qinhuangdao 066004, China
- 2State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
- 3Laboratory of Feed Grain Safety and Healthy Poultry Farming, Beijing Jingwa Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Center, Beijing 101206, China
- 4College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou 121001, China
Abstract
This study evaluated the effects of dietary selenium-enriched Bacillus subtilis (HBS) supplementation on laying performance, egg quality, and responses to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge. A total of 120 Jinghong-1 laying hens received a basal or HBS-supplemented diet for 12 weeks. Subsequently, hens within each dietary replicate were allocated to phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)- or LPS-injected subgroups, and one hen per subgroup was sampled 12 h after injection, yielding six sampled hens per treatment combination. HBS supplementation reduced the feed-to-egg ratio (1.96 vs. 2.15, p = 0.023) and increased albumen height (7.17 vs. 6.60 mm, p = 0.003) and Haugh unit (83.01 vs. 78.65, p = 0.001). Compared with LPS, HBS+LPS showed lower serum IL-1β concentrations, higher CAT and T-SOD activities, greater jejunal villus height and villus height-to-crypt depth ratio, and higher expression of selected antioxidant- and tight-junction-related genes. Jejunal cytokine responses varied among genes. No significant differences in the measured cecal alpha-diversity indices were detected, whereas exploratory LEfSe analysis identified several treatment-associated taxa. Cecal butyrate concentration was higher in HBS than in CON, with no significant difference between HBS+LPS and LPS. Collectively, these findings indicate that HBS supplementation improved feed utilization and albumen quality and was associated with changes in selected antioxidant, inflammatory, and intestinal responses following LPS challenge. The contributions of selenium and B. subtilis could not be distinguished.
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BibTeX
@article{han2026dietary,
title = {{Dietary Selenium-Enriched Bacillus subtilis Improves Feed Utilization and Modulates Selected Responses to LPS Challenge in Laying Hens}},
author = {Qiaoqiao Han and Yaru Wang and Yiyang Chen and Huiying Li and Yue Wang and Xiaotong Li and Qiugang Ma and Haihua Zhang and Shimeng Huang and Hongli Liu},
journal = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.3390/ijms27198778},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/19/8778},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Dietary Selenium-Enriched Bacillus subtilis Improves Feed Utilization and Modulates Selected Responses to LPS Challenge in Laying Hens
AU - Qiaoqiao Han
AU - Yaru Wang
AU - Yiyang Chen
AU - Huiying Li
AU - Yue Wang
AU - Xiaotong Li
AU - Qiugang Ma
AU - Haihua Zhang
AU - Shimeng Huang
AU - Hongli Liu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/30
JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
DO - 10.3390/ijms27198778
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/19/8778
AB - This study evaluated the effects of dietary selenium-enriched Bacillus subtilis (HBS) supplementation on laying performance, egg quality, and responses to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge. A total of 120 Jinghong-1 laying hens received a basal or HBS-supplemented diet for 12 weeks. Subsequently, hens within each dietary replicate were allocated to phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)- or LPS-injected subgroups, and one hen per subgroup was sampled 12 h after injection, yielding six sampled hens per treatment combination. HBS supplementation reduced the feed-to-egg ratio (1.96 vs. 2.15, p = 0.023) and increased albumen height (7.17 vs. 6.60 mm, p = 0.003) and Haugh unit (83.01 vs. 78.65, p = 0.001). Compared with LPS, HBS+LPS showed lower serum IL-1β concentrations, higher CAT and T-SOD activities, greater jejunal villus height and villus height-to-crypt depth ratio, and higher expression of selected antioxidant- and tight-junction-related genes. Jejunal cytokine responses varied among genes. No significant differences in the measured cecal alpha-diversity indices were detected, whereas exploratory LEfSe analysis identified several treatment-associated taxa. Cecal butyrate concentration was higher in HBS than in CON, with no significant difference between HBS+LPS and LPS. Collectively, these findings indicate that HBS supplementation improved feed utilization and albumen quality and was associated with changes in selected antioxidant, inflammatory, and intestinal responses following LPS challenge. The contributions of selenium and B. subtilis could not be distinguished.
SN - 1422-0067
ER -