Wheat bran derived arabinoxylans: native immunomodulators

Medicinal herbs and plants have remained the primary health care agents from the time immemorial before the advent of modern medicine. However, the isolation and identification of the active compound(s) involved did not gain much momentum till the 19th century. It is reported that more than 64 per cent of the world’s human population uses botanical/ayurvedic drugs to combat health problems; and almost 50 per cent of the synthetic medicines have been derived from, or patterned after chemicals of plant origin. Polysaccharides have diverse biological activities in this regard and are frequently used in herbal medicines as a curative agent and dietary supplement. Keeping in view, the present study reports the effects of wheat bran polysaccharides, Arabinoxylans (AXs), on chicken’s immune profiles and its protective efficacy against coccidiosis and results demonstrated the boosting effects of AXs on the immune responses in chickens and protective efficacy against avian coccidiosis. It was concluded that AXs may be a potential and valuable immunostimulant in chickens and a low cost alternative to allopathic drugs being used for the control of avian coccidiosis.