The Effect of Chicken Spleen Transfer Factor on Intestinal Mucosa Immunity Barrier of Laying Hens

Chicken spleen Transfer Factor (TF) is a low-molecular-weight lymphocyte extract composed of polypeptide and nucleotide. However, its role in regulating intestinal structure and function in laying hens has remained largely unknown. 100 one-day-old laying hens were randomly divided into five groups and administered with different doses of TF (0.00 [control], 0.05mL, 0.10mL, 0.25mL and 1.00mL). The results showed that the high dose of TF (1.00mL) improved the intestinal mucosa morphology and strengthened the digestive and absorption function. Furthermore, the histology analysis revealed an increase in the number of intraepithelial lymphocytes and goblet cells. Similarly, the results from ELISA demonstrated an increase in the content of IL-10 in the intestinal tract, while the content of TNF-a showed a decrease in this regard. The RT-PCR assay also demonstrated the upregulation of the relative mRNA expressions of Muc2, TLR-2, and TLR-4 genes. The intestinal antioxidant function was significantly enhanced. In conclusion, high-dose of TF can improve the intestinal mucosa morphology and structure, enhance digestion and absorption functions, enhance the intestinal mucosal barrier immune function and antioxidant function, and up-regulate Muc2, TLR-2 and TLR-4 gene relative expression.