The use of diclazuril in extended withdrawal anticoccidial programs: 1. Efficacy against Eimeria spp. in broiler chickens in floor pens

Comparing the effect of phytobiotic, coccidiostat, toltrazuril, and vaccine on the prevention and treatment of coccidiosis in broilers

This study compared 2 herbal anticoccidiosis drugs (water-soluble and feed-additive drugs) with monensin coccidiostat, toltrazuril (TTZ, anticoccidiosis drug), and Livacox Q (anticoccidiosis vaccine) in terms of their effects on the prevention and treatment of coccidiosis in broilers. In this study, 280 Ross 308 broiler chickens (a mix of both genders) were used in a completely randomized design with 7 treatments and 5 replications each including 8 chickens per replicate. On d 21 of rearing, all experimental groups, except for the negative control group (NC), were challenged with a mixed suspension of common strains of Eimeria, and the intended indices were assessed, including performance indices, number of oocysts per gram (OPG) of feces, intestinal injuries, and the total number of intestinal bacteria. In addition, the NC and the group receiving the monensin had greater body weight gain (BWG) (P < 0.05). At the end of week 6, the monensin group had the highest feed intake (FI), while the water soluble medicine treatment resulted in the lowest feed intake (P < 0.05). Regarding the lesion scores on day 28, the highest and lowest rates of jejunal injuries were observed in the positive control group (PC), the monensin and vaccine group respectively. The rate of oocysts excretion (oocysts per gram of feces = OPG) on different days was higher in the PC group, and the use of monensin could further reduce excretion compared to the other groups (P > 0.05). Based on a comparison of the population of lactic acid bacteria between the NC and both medicinal plant treated groups, the use of these products could increase the population of these types of bacteria. Moreover, the population of Escherichia coli was less considerable in the NC and herbal powder groups (P < 0.05). Overall, similar to commercial medicines, the herbal medicines used in this project can be effective in the prevention and treatment of coccidiosis and can improve profitability in broiler rearing centers by improving intestinal health.

Administration of Ethanolic Extract of Spinacia oleracea Rich in Omega-3 Improves Oxidative Stress and Goblet Cells in Broiler Chickens Infected with Eimeria tenella

This study investigated the anticoccidial activity of spinach (Spinacia oleracea) whole-plant extract against Eimeria tenella, both in vitro and in vivo. For this purpose, one hundred 8-day-old broiler chicks of both sexes were divided into four groups (n = 25 in each group). Chicks in the first group served as the negative control (non-treated-non-infected). Chicks in the second group were challenged at 18 days old with 5 × 104E. tenella sporulated oocysts. The third group was challenged with 5 × 104 sporulated E. tenella oocysts at 18 days old after receiving spinach extract at a dose of 50 mg/kg at 8 days old. The fourth group received 0.2 mg/kg diclazuril (Coxiril® 0.2%) in their diet two days before being orally infected with 5 × 104 sporulated E. tenella oocysts and this continued till day 10 post-infection (PI). The growth performance, clinical symptoms, oocyst shedding, histological findings, and biochemical parameters were used to evaluate the efficacy on day 8 PI when the infection was at its peak. A gas chromatography examination revealed that omega-3 fatty acids were the main constituents of the spinach extract, followed by oleic acid, palmitic acid, and phytol, with amounts of 23.37%, 17.53%, 11.26%, and 7.97%, respectively. The in vitro investigation revealed that the spinach extract at concentrations of 10% and 5% inhibited the oocyst sporulation by 52.1% and 45.1%, respectively. The 5% concentration was selected for the in vivo trial based on the results of the in vitro study. The infected-untreated group showed high levels of OPG; lower body weight; a greater number of parasite stages; few goblet cells; decreased SOD, CAT, and GPX levels; and increased MDA and NO levels. The spinach-treated group, on the other hand, showed a significant decrease in oocyst output per gram of feces (OPG), increased body weight, decreased parasitic stages, and a nearly normal number of goblet cells. Additionally, it reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO), while increasing superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX). In conclusion, spinach produced significant antioxidant effects, increased body weight, reduced the number of oocysts and parasite stages in the caecum, and restored the number of goblet cells relative to those of an uninfected control. Furthermore, spinach extract inhibits the sporulation percentage of E. tenella oocysts. The ethanolic extract of S. oleracea (whole plant) contained high concentrations of fatty acids, palmitic acid, Phytol, betulin, and ursolic aldehyde, all of which are known to regulate the antioxidant pathway and modulate inflammatory processes and may be the main reason for its anticoccidial activity.

Evaluation of therapeutic effects of an herbal mixture (Echinacea purpurea and Glycyrrhiza glabra) for treatment of clinical coccidiosis in broilers

BACKGROUND

Avian coccidiosis is thought to be one of the most expensive infectious diseases in the poultry industry.

OBJECTIVES

Safe and alternative anti-coccidial drugs are herbal extracts because they do not result in tissue residue and drug resistance. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the anti-coccidial effect of the herbal mixture, a complex of two plants (Echinacea purpurea, Glycyrrhiza glabra) in broiler chickens in comparison with toltrazuril.

METHODS

One hundred twenty broiler chickens were used in this experiment and divided into 4 equally numbered groups. All the groups, except Group D, were experimentally infected with mixed Eimeria spp. (E. Tenella, E. maxima, E. necatrix and E. brunetti) on day 14. Group A treated with an herbal mixture [Glycyrrhiza glabra Extract 5% (standardised to 5.4% glycyrrhizic acid) and Echinacea purpurea Extract 2% (standardised to 4% total phenolic content based on chlorogenic acid); Coxinin-EC^® ; Shamim Teb Sepid Giti]. Group B treated with toltrazuril. Group C was experimentally infected with mixed Eimeria spp. but they did not have any treatment, this group was our positive control. Performance indices, faecal oocyst excretion, and intestinal lesion score were determined during the experiment.

RESULTS

Positive control group had the poorest results and more mortality than other groups. Group D was not infected and was healthy all the experiment period. Treatment with herbal complex significantly reduced the negative performance and pathogenic effects associated with Eimeria spp. at a level that was comparable with toltrazuril.

CONCLUSIONS

In summary, the anti-coccidial activity of the studied herbal complex suggests its use as an alternative anti-coccidial agent to chemotherapeutic drugs for controlling coccidiosis in poultry.

HIGHLIGHTS

-Coccidiosis is an important infectious disease that causes serious financial loss to the poultry industry. -Chemical anti-coccidial drugs and vaccines are the main control strategies to combat the disease. However, these tools have some constraints. -Herbal remedies are suitable alternatives to chemical compounds for control of losses associated with coccidiosis in poultry. -An herbal mixture (Echinacea purpurea, Glycyrrhiza glabra) has promising effects for controlling of coccidiosis in broiler chickens.

Meta-Analysis of the Use of Eimeria Lesion Scores and Oocyst Counts in Floor-Pen Studies

The success of treatments for, or prophylaxis of, coccidiosis with classical anticoccidial feed additives or alternative treatments can be measured with a variety of metrics. Three important metrics are body weight or body weight gain (BW or BWG), lesion scores (LS), and oocyst shedding (OS). A meta-analysis of floor-pen experiments was performed to determine if using LS and OS would lead to systematically different assessments compared to the use of BW at the end of the experiment, and to what degree changes in LS and OS are correlated with BW. We also investigated if there were days postinfection on which one could expect larger ratios between untreated control groups and treated groups for LS and OS as an aid to selecting sampling days. A total of 38 experiments from 37 articles in peer-reviewed journals were included. Data sets containing experiments that investigated LS or OS in addition to BW or BWG to assess anticoccidial feed additives or alternative treatment were tested for the effectiveness of the intervention either by univariate meta-analyses for each metric or by robust variance estimation multivariate meta-analysis combining BW with LS or BW with OS. The results did not show evidence that the inclusion of LS and OS in experimental designs to assess the effect of conventional and alternative feed additives with assumed anticoccidial activity systematically changed the conclusions drawn from an experiment, but there was no significant correlation between the LS and OS ratios of untreated and treated groups determined during the experiments with the ratios of the BW at the end of the experiment for each experiment. There was also no discernible relationship between LS or OS ratios and days postinfection.

Parasitological and histopathological examination of Cocktail love birds infected with Eimeria aratinga (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae)

Coccidiosis is a devastating worldwide disease and is considered a dreadful disease in lovebirds. Indeed, a problem has been appeared cocktail lovebirds kept in a private pet birdhouse in Sheikh Zayed City, Giza, Egypt, in the shape of blood-tinged diarrhea, birds huddled together and showing signs of inappetence, ruffled feathers, unable to fly, general weakness and emaciation associated with high mortalities. Therefore, this study aimed to diagnose and find a suitable treatment to overcome such problems. To achieve this aim, blood and droppings samples were collected from infected and healthy birds for parasitological and hematological examinations, and tissue samples were collected from freshly dead birds for postmortem and histopathological examinations. A treatment trial was adopted on 50 infected birds and 25 healthy and parasitological negative birds and groups were classified as follows: group 1) 25 infected birds treated with Diclazuril, group 2) infected birds treated with Coccicure, and group 3) 25 birds kept as control negative reference birds. The parasitological identification revealed the presence of Eimeria aratinga (E. aratinga) oocysts in the infected bird intestine. Finally, we concluded that E. aratinga is a serious protozoon parasite infesting lovebirds revealing severe clinical signs, high mortalities, histopathological changes in the intestine and alteration in blood parameters. Diclazuril is an effective drug in treating E. aratinga in cocktail lovebirds.

Use of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles as Anticoccidial Agents in Broiler Chickens along with Its Impact on Growth Performance, Antioxidant Status and Hematobiochemical Profile

The impact of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) on the pathogenesis of coccidiosis in broiler chickens was tested. A total of 160 1-day-old broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly allocated into 4 groups (n = 40). Group 1: unchallenged, unmedicated; Group 2: challenged, unmedicated; Group 3: challenged, supplemented with diclazuril (1 ppm); Group 4: challenged, supplemented with ZnO-NPs (20 ppm). Mixed Eimeria species (E. maxima, E. acervulina, E. mivati, and E. tenella) of a commercial coccidial vaccine (FORTEGRA®) were used to perform the coccidial challenge by 15× of its vaccinal dose on the 14th day of age. Diclazuril and ZnO-NPs supplementation in Group 3 and 4, respectively, reduced the mortality rate due to coccidial challenge to 5.8% compared to 11.9% in Group 2. The growth performance was improved by ZnO-NPs in coccidiosis-infected group (p ≤ 0.05) compared to Group 2 and was comparable to that of Group 3 (p ≥ 0.05). The average oocyst count was lower in Groups 3 and 4 (7.8 × 103 and 14.3 × 103, respectively) than in Group 2 (67 × 103 oocysts). Group 3 had a decreased gross lesion score in duodenum and caecum (p ≤ 0.05) as well as jujenum and ileum (p ≥ 0.05) compared to Group 2; while the average lesion scores of all intestinal parts in Group 4 were significantly decreased (p ≤ 0.05). However, diclazuril was superior to ZnO-NPs in reducing caecal lesion score (p ≤ 0.05). Plasma carotenoids levels were increased by diclazuril (p ≥ 0.05) and ZnO-NPs (p ≤ 0.05) supplementation compared to Group 2. Oxidative stress appeared on the fourth week post-challenge (pc) in Group 2 (p ≤ 0.05) compared to Group 1, while the dietary supplementation with either diclazuril or ZnO-NPs numerically decreased Malondialdhyde (p ≥ 0.05) and statistically increased antioxidant activity (p ≤ 0.05). Both medications significantly improved the PCV%, Hb% and RBCs count on the 6th-day and 4th-week pc (p ≤ 0.05) compared to Group 2, though this improvement was higher significantly in Group 4 than Group 3 on the 6th day pc (p ≤ 0.05). Neither coccidial challenge nor medications had an impact on the total WBCs count as well as organ index, except Bursa of fabricious index that significantly improved by ZnO-NPs on the 4th-week pc compared to Group 2. Coccidial challenge reduced total protein and globulin levels and increased the serum alanine aminotransferase, serum cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein levels (p ≤ 0.05) compared to Group 1, while those of both medicated groups (Group 3 and 4) were comparable to Group 1 (p ≥ 0.05). In conclusion, ZnO-NPs were found to be as effective as diclazuril against coccidiosis. However, further research is needed to fully comprehend its anticoccidial mechanisms.

Network meta-analysis comparing the effectiveness of anticoccidial drugs and anticoccidial vaccination in broiler chickens

With the trend to organic production and concerns about using antibiotic feed additives, the control of infections with Eimeria spp. in broiler flocks has become more difficult. Vaccination against coccidia is an alternative, but there are concerns that the live vaccines used might have negative effects on production parameters and intestinal health. Reports of experiments directly comparing anticoccidial drugs and anticoccidial vaccines are rare. This network meta-analysis (NMA) identified and analyzed 61 articles reporting 63 experiments testing anticoccidial drugs and anticoccidial vaccines under conditions resembling commercial broiler production. The effect sizes were mean differences in body weight/body weight gain (BW/BWG) and feed conversion rate (FCR) between the 175 included groups. The results show that groups vaccinated against coccidia have a similar BW/BWG and FCR at processing age compared to groups given anticoccidial drugs. However, the results tended to be more favorable for anticoccidial drugs than for vaccines. The analysis of eight subsets, containing only groups (1) groups that had not received an AGP in addition to an anticoccidial drug, (2) groups that had not received ionophores, (3) groups that had not received chemicals, (4) groups that had not received an attenuated vaccine, (5) groups that had not received a fully virulent vaccine, (6) groups that were not additionally challenged with bacteria or not challenged, (7) groups that had received a severe challenge as defined by a total infection dose of more than 100,000 oocysts or were not challenged, (8) groups that were challenged on day 15 or earlier or not challenged brought similar results and confirmed the robustness of the NMA. In addition, the analysis exposes unnecessary, as well as inherent, problems with data quality, which every researcher working with coccidia should carefully consider, and identifies under-researched areas that should be addressed in future research.

Injection of Raffinose Family Oligosaccharides at 12 Days of Egg Incubation Modulates the Gut Development and Resistance to Opportunistic Pathogens in Broiler Chickens

Simple Summary

In the face of a changing climate, antibiotic resistance and uprising outbreaks of ‘forgotten’ diseases, there is an urgent need for new, safe strategies and natural immunomodulatory products in intensive broiler production. So far, many prebiotic and synbiotic preparations have been explored to influence the gut microbiota composition and the host immune system. However, the effects of bioactive compounds are not always found to be consistent. Global analysis allows us to define at least several reasons for those discrepancies: different chemical composition and origins of the oligosaccharides, interaction with other feed ingredients, and unfavorable environmental impact, where the two latter seem to be most important. The in ovo strategy to automatically inject prebiotics at day 12 of egg incubation has been elaborated to eliminate some of those factors and provide a fully controlled modulation of the host biology. Here, the prebiotic modulatory effects were reflected in the improved gut structure and resistance to opportunistic pathogens in the final weeks of broiler rearing, showing lifelong effects. The in ovo strategy allows for the earliest possible immunomodulatory treatments with the use of naturally sourced bioactive compounds, one of them being legume raffinose oligosaccharides.

Abstract

The aim was to investigate the impact of an automatic in ovo injection of the raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFO) extracted from the seeds of Lupinus luteus L, on the chicken performance and resistance in a production environment. At day 12 of incubation, a total of 57,900 eggs (Ross 308) were divided into two groups: 1/ Control, injected with 0.9% NaCl and 2/ RFO group, injected with 1.9 mg/egg of the lupin seed extract, dissolved in 0.2 mL NaCl. The performance parameters, biochemical indices (lipid profile, hepatic parameters), gut histomorphology and duodenum structure, oxidative stability of the meat and microbiological counts of the major commensal microbiota species were analyzed. Mortality, body weight, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were not affected. By day 42, several health indices were improved with RFO and were reflected in a beneficial lipid blood profile, increased villi surface and better combating opportunistic pathogens through reduction of Clostridia and decreased coccidia counts. The RFO increased meat oxidation, but only at the beginning of the storage. The RFO sourced from local legumes can be considered a promising prebiotic for broiler chickens. In ovo delivery of prebiotics and/or synbiotics should be further optimized as an important strategy for the earliest possible modulation of chicken resistance.

Anticoccidial effects of herbal extracts on Eimeria tenella infection in broiler chickens: in vitro and in vivo study

Safe alternative anticoccidial drug to chemical feed additives are herbal extracts, because they don't results to tissue residue and drug resistance. In order to evaluate the effects of herbal extracts to control avian coccidiosis, 180 one-day-old broiler chickens were randomly divided into nine equal groups, as follows: (1) Biarum bovei (2) Nectaroscordum tripedale( 3) Dorema aucheri (4) Cichorium intybus (5) Prangos ferulaceae (6) diclazuril (7) Artemisia absinthium (8) infected control (9) uninfected control (each contains two groups). Administration of herbal extracts and supplementation of diclazuril was began 2 days before challenge and lasted for the duration of the experiment. The chicks of all the groups except uninfected control group were inoculated orally with sporulated oocysts (3 × 10(3) oocysts of Eimeria tenella) on the day 22 of age. The criteria employed were: body weight, feed conversion ratio, blood in feces, survival rate, lesion scoring, number of oocyst output per gram feces and histopathological changes. For histopathological evaluation, on day 12 post inoculation three birds from each group were randomly selected and humanly sacrificed. N. tripedale and diclazuril revealed better results in terms of growth performance, lesion score, extent of bloody diarrhea and oocyst count as compared to other herbal extracts. The increase in the severity of lesions was observed in groups of D. aucheri, A. absinthium, B. bovei, P. ferulaceae, C. intybus, diclazuril and N. tripedale, respectively. In conclusion, the current study showed that herbal extracts were effective in control of coccidiosis caused by the E. tenella infection.

Anticoccidial efficacy of drinking water soluble diclazuril in the control of Eimeria acervulina oocysts on experimentally-infected broiler chickens

The experiment was carried out with 150 Cobb broiler chickens divided into 3 groups with 50 birds each. The groups of infected chickens orally received 1ml of inoculum containing 3x103 Eimeria acervulina sporulated oocysts at 12 days of age. Group 1 was kept as a positive control with infected non-medicated birds, group 2 was medicated with diclazuril (1%) with a dose of 1mL/4 L of drinking water for 2 successive days, 5 days after infection, while group 3 was kept as negative control with non-infected and non-medicated birds. Oocysts count per gram of feces, score of macroscopic intestinal lesions and weight gain were evaluated. The group treated with diclazuril showed significant and satisfactory improvement in the assessment criteria when compared to the infected non-medicated group. The results revealed more reduction in the total oocyst count and intestinal lesion score in the medicated than in the infected non-treated group. The results confirmed that (1%) liquid diclazuril is effective to control Eimeria infection.

Anticoccidial Efficacy of Drinking Water Soluble Diclazuril on Experimental and Field Coccidiosis in Broiler Chickens

Prophylactic and curative capacity of water soluble formulation of Diclazuril (Diclosol 1%) and feed additive form (Clinacox, 0.5%) were tested against Eimeria infection in broiler chickens. Such testing was performed both experimentally and in the field. Toltrazuril (Baycox, 2.5%) was used as reference control drug. Water soluble formulation of Diclazuril induced a marked inhibitory effect on the different stages of the parasite life cycle in experimentally infected treated birds especially when applied on the day when blood first appeared in the faeces [fifth day post-infection (d.p.i.)] as well as on the second day of blood dropping (6 d.p.i.). Both tested dosage levels of Diclazuril water soluble formulation in drinking water (5 and 10 ppm) showed the same effect in controlling coccidial infection and reducing the total oocyst numbers, lesion and faecal scores. Moreover, there was no significant difference in the efficacy of water soluble form of Diclazuril and the reference control drug (Toltrazuril, 25 ppm). In addition, testing the water soluble formulation (5 ppm) in naturally infected poultry farm (20,000 birds), showed the same anticoccidial effect observed when using Toltrazuril, as a treatment for coccidiosis. In conclusion, addition of Diclazuril at the dose of 5 ppm in the drinking water of naturally coccidia infected bird induced the same effect as 25 ppm of Toltrazuril as a treatment for coccidiosis in chickens.

The use of diclazuril in extended withdrawal anticoccidial programs: 2. Immunity to Eimeria tenella challenge after drug withdrawal

The effect of diclazuril medication on the development of natural immunity to Eimeria tenella was determined. Birds in two treatments, nonexposed, non-challenged (NENC) and nonexposed, challenged (NEC), were from a holding group raised under conditions designed to prevent coccidial infection. Birds in five other treatments, from the same hatch and source as birds in the first two treatments, were from a floor pen study involving a natural exposure to Eimeria spp. These birds were assigned to the current study based on their respective treatments in the original floor pen study as follows: unmedicated (UNM), 66 ppm salinomycin (SAL) + 50 ppm roxarsone in the starter and grower diets to Day 28 (SAL 28), 66 ppm SAL + 50 ppm roxarsone in the starter diet and 1 ppm diclazuril (DIC) in the grower diet to Day 28 (DIC 28) or to Day 35 (DIC 35), or in the grower and finisher diets to Day 42 (DIC 42). Each treatment comprised three floor pens of 10 birds (female) in a randomized complete block design. All birds were fed an UNM finisher diet during the 7-d challenge study. Birds in each treatment, except NENC, were individually inoculated (p.o.) with 1 x 10(5) Eimeria tenella sporulated oocysts on Day 1. Based on bird performance and cecal lesion scores, birds in the DIC 35 and 42 treatments had a low immunity to the challenge infection, birds in the DIC 28 treatment were partially immunized, and the highest levels of immunity were observed in the UNM and SAL 28 treatments.