Synbiotic enhances immune responses against infectious bronchitis, infectious bursal disease, Newcastle disease and avian influenza in broiler chickens

Increased susceptibility of birds to avian pathogens in intensive husbandry system has emphasized on necessity of improvement of innate and specific immune responses of birds by the fast establishment of a beneficial microflora and immune stimulator factors to guarantee healthy and low-price products. During this study, 192 one-day-old broiler chicks (Ross-380) in four groups with three replicates per group were used to investigate effectiveness of synbiotic Biomin Imbo on immune responses of the chickens following routine vaccination against Newcastle disease (ND), avian influenza (AI), infectious bronchitis (IB) and infectious bursal disease (IBD). The results of this study indicated that supplementation of Biomin Imbo in diet enhanced humoral immune responses significantly in the case of ND, IB, IBD (p = 0.049, p = 0.020, p = 0.036, respectively), but insignificantly in the case of AI (p = 0.160) following vaccination of the chickens against these most common important viral poultry diseases. It was more effective following vaccination with live than killed vaccines. In conclusion, application of synbiotic Biomin Imbo, as a feed-additive adjuvant promotes acquired humoral immune responses of broiler chickens.