Epithelial cell adhesion and gastrointestinal colonization of Lactobacillus in poultry.

Administration of probiotic Lactobacillus cultures is an important alternative to the use of antibiotic growth promoters and has been demonstrated to improve animal health, growth performance, and preharvest food safety in poultry production. Whereas gastrointestinal colonization is thought to be critical to their probiotic functionality, factors important to Lactobacillus colonization in chickens are not well understood. In this study we investigate epithelial cell adhesion in vitro and colonization of Lactobacillusin vivo in broiler chickens. Adhesion of Lactobacillus cultures to epithelial cells was evaluated using the chicken LMH cell line. Lactobacillus cultures were able adhere effectively to LMH cells relative to Bacillus subtilis and Salmonella Typhimurium. Epithelial cell adhesion was similar for Lactobacillus crispatus TDCC 75, L. cristpatus TDCC 76, and Lactobacillus gallinarum TDCC 77, and all 3 were more adherent than L. gallinarum TDCC 78. However, when colonization was evaluated in the ileum and cecum of broiler chicks, L. crispatus TDCC 75 and L. gallinarum TDCC 77 were more persistent than L. crispatus TDCC 76 and L. gallinarum TDCC 78. The reduction of growth in medium supplemented with oxgal was greater for L. gallinarum TDCC 78 than L. gallinarum TDCC 77, suggesting that whereas adhesion was similar for the 2 strains, the difference in colonization between L. gallinarum strains may be due in part to their bile sensitivity. This study demonstrates that whereas adhesion to epithelial cells may be important in predicting gastrointestinal colonization, other factors including bile tolerance may also contribute to the colonization of Lactobacillus in poultry. Additionally, the chicken LMH cell line is expected to provide a platform for investigating mechanisms of Lactobacillus adhesion to epithelial tissue and evaluating the probiotic potential Lactobacillus in poultry.