Blood Profiles and Gut Microbial Communities in Broiler Chickens: Are There Any Associations?

Document Type : Original Paper

Authors

1 Department of Feeding for Farm Animals and Feed Technology named after S.G. Leushin, Federal Research Centre of Biological Systems and Agrotechnologies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Orenburg, Russia

2 Laboratory of Breeding and Genetic Research in Animal Husbandry, Federal Research Centre of Biological Systems and Agrotechnologies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Orenburg, Russian Federation

3 Laboratory of Breeding and Genetic Research in Animal Husbandry, Federal Research Centre of Biological Systems and Agrotechnologies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Orenburg, Russia Department of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases,

4 Laboratory of Breeding and Genetic Research in Animal Husbandry, Federal Research Centre of Biological Systems and Agrotechnologies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Orenburg, Russia Laboratory for Diagnostics and Prevention of Infectious

5 Laboratory of Breeding and Genetic Research in Animal Husbandry, Federal Research Centre of Biological Systems and Agrotechnologies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Orenburg, Russia

10.22069/psj.2026.24279.2453

Abstract

The general concept of a gut-bone marrow axis, which describes the communication between the microbial community and the hematopoietic system, still has little experimental support in poultry. The goal of this study was to evaluate the hematological values and gut microbial communities in broiler chickens belonging to the globally used Arbor Acres strain and the domestic Smena 8 strain, and to assess the associations between these parameters. The study design included a group-level meta-analysis of homogeneous quantitative hematological and microbiological datasets obtained from 40 independent chicken groups using an automatic 5-diff hematology analyzer and metagenomic sequencing technology performed on the Illumina MiSeq platform. Comparison of blood profiles between Arbor Acres and Smena 8 broiler chicken strains revealed significant (P< 0.001) differences in red blood cells (RBC) and white blood cells (WBC) counts, complemented by less expressed (P= 0.002) differences in platelet (PLT) counts. In turn, a comparison of gut microbiomes showed a common core, represented by 46 bacterial genera and equivalent taxonomic ranks, as well as specific components that are predominantly found (21 genera) or are exclusively characteristic (93 genera) for a particular broiler chicken strain. Subsequent analysis of the associations between blood profiles and microbial communities identified 23 bacterial genera that were strongly positively associated with the WBC and PLT counts or negatively associated with the RBC and WBC counts. Overall, the present study explained 12.39% of RBC and 22.28% of WBC count variability, and the most pronounced 55.65% PLT variability in blood profiles of broiler chickens as microbiome-related, which should be considered when these parameters are jointly assessed in poultry farming.

Keywords

References

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Poultry Science Journal
Volume 14, Issue 2
November 2026
Pages 223-242

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