Table 5.
Effects of dietary supplementation with the TCM on immunity in laying hens.
| Items | CON | ABX | TCM | SEM | p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IL-2 (pg/mL) | 22.71 c | 28.62 b | 41.14 a | 1.605 | <0.01 |
| IL-6 (pg/mL) | 6.57 a | 6.06 a | 5.42 b | 0.201 | 0.059 |
| IL-8 (pg/mL) | 24.40 a | 23.24 a | 20.05 b | 0.672 | 0.018 |
| TNF-α (pg/mL) | 23.89 | 22.73 | 21.42 | 0.454 | 0.080 |
| IFN-γ (pg/mL) | 17.35 b | 18.23 b | 23.34 a | 0.803 | 0.002 |
| IgA (μg/mL) | 52.12 b | 61.45 b | 77.94 a | 2.917 | <0.01 |
| IgM (μg/mL) | 134.74 b | 152.25 b | 184.18 a | 7.043 | 0.01 |
| IgG (μg/mL) | 279.23 b | 303.39 b | 424.46 a | 17.96 | <0.01 |
CON, a basal diet; ABX, the basal diet plus a blend of 50 mg/kg zinc bacitracin; TCM, the basal diet plus a blend of 400 mg/kg TCM. Data are presented as the means ± SEM (n = 6). a,b,c Values within a row with different superscripts differ significantly at p < 0.05.