Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of oral gavage of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) to establish an enteric inflammation model in broilers. Forty 1-day-old male, yellow-feathered broilers were randomly divided into 2 groups with 5 replicates of 4 birds each for a 42-day trial. The experiment design used 2 groups: (1) the control group (CT), normal broilers fed a basal diet, and (2) the DSS group, DSS-treated broilers fed a basal diet. The DSS group received 1 mL of 2.5% DSS solution once a day by oral gavage from 21 to 29 days of age. The results showed that compared with those in CT, DSS treatment significantly increased histological scores for enteritis and mucosal damage at 29 and 42 days of age (p < 0.01) and the disease activity index (DAI) from 23 to 29 days of age (p < 0.01). DSS-treated broilers showed poor growth performance at 42 days of age, including decreased body weight and average daily gain and an increased feed conversion ratio (p < 0.01). DSS also caused gross lesions and histopathological damage in the jejunum of broilers, such as obvious hemorrhagic spots, loss of villus architecture, epithelial cell disruption, inflammatory cell infiltration, and decreased villus height. These results suggest that oral gavage of DSS is an effective method for inducing mild and non-necrotic enteric inflammation in broilers.