Probiotics, enzymes, organic acids, oligosaccharides, antioxidants, and other functional materials are actively being explored as alternatives to antibiotics. Probiotics include live beneficial microorganisms that colonize the intestinal tract and competitively inhibit attachment and growth of harmful microbes. Probiotics also increase feed efficiency by assisting in nutrient absorption and digestion. The current study was conducted in order to evaluate the effect of a new probiotic, CS-A, as a dietary supplement of a fermented product on growth performance, feed intake, and feed conversion efficiency in broiler chickens, and to evaluate its value as an alternative for antibiotics used as a feed additive. Antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects of CS-A were investigated in vitro and the in vivo effects of a constant concentration of supplemented CS-A on growth rate and feed efficiency were evaluated. In addition, the safety of CS-A was assessed by examination of common symptoms and mortality. Determination of minimal inhibitory concentration revealed an excellent antibacterial effect of CS-A. Cytotoxicity was low and anti-inflammatory effects were achieved at the effective concentration of CS-A. Supplementation with 0.1% CS-A resulted in a feed efficiency score of 1.84 in broilers, compared to 2.00 in the control group. There were no adverse clinical findings, necropsy findings, hematology, and altered serum biochemistry parameters, and no mortality. Thus, it is concluded that CS-A is safe and effective as a feed additive.

This study was performed to investigate the anti-obesity and anti-lipidemic ability of linalool (LL) in ApoE deficient mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). Mice were divided into four experimental groups of eight each. Mice in the control group received a basic diet and oral repeated dose of the vehicle only for 12 weeks; mice in the HFD group received a HFD and oral repeated dose of the vehicle only for 12 weeks; and the HFD&LL25 and HFD&LL50 groups received a HFD and oral repeated dose of LL 25 and 50 mg/kg/day for 12 weeks, respectively. Mice in the HFD group showed a significant increase in body weight, spleen weight, and adipose tissue weight, compared with the control group. An increase in the serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase activities, total cholesterol (T-CHO), triglyceride (TG), and low density lipoprotein cholesterol was also observed in the HFD group. Histopathological examinations showed severe liver injuries, characterized by extensive fatty changes and hepatocyte degeneration/necrosis. On the contrary, oral administration with LL resulted in significantly improved HFD-induced obesity and hyperlipidemia, indicated by a decrease in adipose tissue weight, T-CHO, TG, and histopathological lesions. The results indicate that LL suppressed HFD-induced obesity, hyperlipidemia, hypercholesterolemia, and hepatic steatosis, suggesting that LL might be a promising adjuvant therapy for treatment of these metabolic disorders related to corpulence.