HISTOMORPHOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF THE LIVER OF BROILER CHICKENS SUPPLEMENTED WITH A PREBIOTIC COMPOUND BASED ON MANNANOLIGOSACCHARIDES, FRUCTOOLIGOSACCHARIDES, AND GLUCOOLIGOSACCHARIDES

Abstract

This study aimed to microscopically evaluate the liver of broiler chickens supplemented with a prebiotic compound containing mannan-oligosaccharides, fructo-oligosaccharides, and gluco-oligosaccharides. A total of 240 female birds were distributed into three experimental treatments with three replicates of four birds each, from 1 to 42 days of age. The treatments were: T1 – 500 g of prebiotic compound per ton of feed, T2 – 16.5 ppm of Flavomycin per ton of feed, and T3 – control (no treatment). Liver samples were collected on days 7, 14, 28, and 42 post-treatment and processed according to histological routine. Histopathological alterations were analyzed using frequency distribution and the Kruskal-Wallis test (p<0.05) in GraphPad Prism 7.0. The results showed a lower frequency of lesions in T1 at 7, 14, and 28 days, but by day 42, the lesions were similar among groups. These findings suggest that the prebiotic compound effectively contributed to liver protection against aflatoxin-induced damage, reducing hepatic lesions.