Background

Coccidiosis is an intestinal disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Eimeria and responsible for considerable economic loss in the livestock and poultry industries. Resistance to the current anticoccidial drugs is now a major challenge to efforts to control the disease, and this has stimulated the search for new compounds as alternative treatments. In this context, plant extracts have emerged as an alternative and complementary approach to control coccidiosis. In the present study, an ethanol extract of Moringa oleifera leaves was screened for its anticoccidial activity against Eimeria papillata infection in mice.

Methods

To this end, albino mice were allocated into three groups: the first group was the non-infected control; the second and third groups were infected with 10³E. papillata oocysts. Of these, the second group was kept as an infected control; while the third group was gavaged with 100 μl of moringa leaf extract (MLE) at a dose of 400 mg MLE/kg, once daily, for five days.

Results

MLE significantly suppressed oocyst excretion in faeces, and histological study of the jejunum showed a significant decrease in the number of parasitic stages, with significant improvement in the numbers of goblet cells. Furthermore, the expression of MUC2 gene was upregulated in the treated mice compared with infected, which further supports the anticoccidial potential of MLE. Moreover, our study evidenced that MLE reduced oxidative damage by decreasing TBARS and iNOS expression, and increasing the GSH and GPX levels. Also, treatment with MLE promoted the expression of Bcl-2 and ultimately, inhibited the apoptosis of host cells in the treated mice.

Conclusion

Our data indicate that MLE has anticoccidial, anti-oxidant and anti-apoptotic activities in mice infected with Eimeria papillata.

中文翻译：

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辣木叶提取物对小鼠肠道艾美球虫病的抗球虫和抗氧化活性。

背景

球虫病是一种由艾美球虫属原生动物寄生虫引起的肠道疾病，给畜禽业造成相当大的经济损失。对当前抗球虫药物的耐药性现在是控制该疾病的主要挑战，这刺激了寻找新化合物作为替代疗法的努力。在这种情况下，植物提取物已成为控制球虫病的替代和补充方法。在本研究中，筛选了辣木叶乙醇提取物对小鼠乳头状艾美球虫感染的抗球虫活性。

方法

为此，白化小鼠被分为三组：第一组是未感染的对照组；第二组和第三组感染了10 ^{3 个}乳头状E. papillata卵囊。其中，第二组作为感染对照；而第三组则用 100 μl 辣木叶提取物 (MLE) 灌胃，剂量为 400 mg MLE/kg，每天一次，持续五天。

结果

MLE 显着抑制粪便中的卵囊排泄，空肠的组织学研究显示寄生阶段的数量显着减少，杯状细胞的数量显着增加。此外，与受感染的小鼠相比，受治疗的小鼠中 MUC2 基因的表达上调，这进一步支持了 MLE 的抗球虫潜力。此外，我们的研究证明，MLE 通过降低 TBARS 和 iNOS 表达以及增加 GSH 和 GPX 水平来减少氧化损伤。此外，MLE 治疗促进了 Bcl-2 的表达，并最终抑制了治疗小鼠中宿主细胞的凋亡。

结论

我们的数据表明，MLE 在感染乳头艾美球虫的小鼠中具有抗球虫、抗氧化和抗凋亡活性。