Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40135172›Full record

ArticleAnimal nutrition (Zhongguo xu mu shou yi xue hui)2025

Revealing the physical restrictions of caecal influx in broilers through the use of solid and soluble markers.

Paulien Vanderghinste, An Bautil, Michael R Bedford, Gemma González-Ortiz, Chris Lamberigts, Imran Aslam, Maarten Roeffaers, Christophe M Courtin

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Article in Animal nutrition (Zhongguo xu mu shou yi xue hui), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Paulien VanderghinsteLaboratory of Food Chemistry and Biochemistry & Leuven Food Science and Nutrition Centre (LFoRCe), Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems (MS), KU Leuven, 3001, Leuven, Belgium.
An BautilLaboratory of Food Chemistry and Biochemistry & Leuven Food Science and Nutrition Centre (LFoRCe), Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems (MS), KU Leuven, 3001, Leuven, Belgium.
Michael R BedfordAB Vista, Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 4AN, United Kingdom.
Gemma González-OrtizAB Vista, Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 4AN, United Kingdom.
Chris LamberigtsLaboratory of Livestock Physiology & Epigenetics, Biosystems Departement, KU Leuven, 3001, Leuven, Belgium.
Imran AslamCentre for Membrane Separations, Adsorption, Catalysis and Spectroscopy for Sustainable Solutions (cMACS), Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems (MS), KU Leuven, 3001, Leuven, Belgium.
Maarten RoeffaersCentre for Membrane Separations, Adsorption, Catalysis and Spectroscopy for Sustainable Solutions (cMACS), Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems (MS), KU Leuven, 3001, Leuven, Belgium.
Christophe M CourtinLaboratory of Food Chemistry and Biochemistry & Leuven Food Science and Nutrition Centre (LFoRCe), Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems (MS), KU Leuven, 3001, Leuven, Belgium.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A promising strategy to support broiler health and performance in a sustainable way is the enhancement of microbial fibre fermentation in broilers. This fermentation mainly occurs in the caeca, but the actual particle size range that allows caecal influx has not yet been described. This study aimed to understand the physical limitations of caecal influx as a function of broiler age by using both solid and soluble markers. In the first trial, the caecal filter mechanism was studied by microscopically visualising the caecal entrance and measuring caecal lobe development and digesta particle size as a function of age (d 8-36) for 44 broilers (Ross 308) receiving a conventional wheat-based diet. In two consecutive trials, microcrystalline cellulose beads (100-700 μm) and a combination of fluorescent polystyrene beads (5-30 μm) and chromium-ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (Cr-EDTA) were administered to 176 and 189 broilers, respectively, at different ages (d 8-36). Results showed that the actual caecal entrance diameter is significantly reduced due to a dense villi network acting as a filter for digesta inflow. This explains the size gap between the average digesta particle size (D50) of the ileum (451-322 μm) and caeca (5-19 μm), and the outer diameter of the caecal entrance (2000-4000 μm) on d 8 to 36. In contrast to the caecal D50, cellulose beads of 700 μm already entered the caeca at 8 d of age, even though the general caecal influx of digesta particles larger than 100 μm seemed very limited. The caecal influx of the markers further exhibited large individual variation among birds. A maximum of 13.2% (d 9) and 4.3% (d 29) of the total administered soluble marker (Cr-EDTA) was detected in the caeca, 5 h after bolus administration. Both solid and soluble markers showed a larger concentration in the caeca at a young age compared to older ages (

Indexed as

CaecaCellulose beadFibre fermentationFluorescent polystyrene beadParticle sizePoultry

Identifiers

PMID40135172
PMCPMC11930729

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.