• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제59권4호
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• pp.403-408
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• 2021

Avian coccidiosis has a major economic impact on the poultry industry, it is caused by 7 species of Eimeria, and has been primarily controlled using chemotherapeutic agents. Due to the emergence of drug-resistant strains, alternative control strategies are needed. We assessed anticoccidial effects of berberine-based diets in broiler chickens following oral infection with 5 Eimeria species (E. acervulina, E. maxima, E. tenella, E. mitis, and E. praecox). When 0.2% berberine, a concentration that does not affect weight gain, was added to the diet, the 4 groups infected with E. acervulina, E. tenella, E. mitis, or E. praecox showed significant reductions in fecal oocyst shedding (P<0.05) compared to their respective infected and untreated controls. In chickens treated 0.5% berberine instead of 0.2% and infected with E. maxima, fecal oocyst production was significantly reduced, but body weight deceased, indicating that berberine treatment was not useful for E. maxima infection. Taken together, these results illustrate the applicability of berberine for prophylactic use to control most Eimeria infections except E. maxima. Further studies on the mechanisms underlying the differences in anticoccidial susceptibility to berberine, particularly E. maxima, are remained.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• 제23권6호
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• pp.91.1-91.9
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• 2022

Three parameters, body weight gain (BWG), intestinal lesion score (LS) and fecal oocyst shedding, were compared in broilers infected with major parasitic species; Eimeria acervulina, E. maxima, and E. tenella. First, two- and three-week-old chickens with Eimeria infection showed LS of approximately 3, but two-week-old chickens were more correlated with BWG. Second, significant differences in BWG were observed between male and female broilers challenged with Eimeria. Finally, E. maxima-infected broilers among three Eimeria species showed a higher relationship between BWG and LS, suggesting three considerations such as genders, age and Eimeria species for Eimeria experiments.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제49권3호
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• pp.299-302
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• 2011

During experimental Eimeria infections in chickens, facilities are often contaminated by fecal oocysts known to be highly resistant to both chemical and enzymatic treatments. Thus, studies using experimental Eimeria infections have been limited due to the difficulty of complete elimination of residual oocysts from both cages and facilities. To overcome this limitation, simple, inexpensive, and disposable cages were constructed from cardboard boxes and tested during experimental Eimeria maxima infections. The cages were used in animal rooms with only a 1.7% evidence of coccidia contamination between adjacent cages. No significant differences in fecal oocyst output and body weight gain were noted between animals housed in disposable cages and animals housed in wire control cages. This cage design is a useful means for preventing oocyst contamination during experimental conditions, suggesting that this disposable cage design could be used for other avian infectious disease studies.

• 한국동물위생학회지
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• 제39권1호
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• pp.21-28
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• 2016

Protozoan parasite, the genus Eimeria, causes an intestinal disease, coccidiosis, in young broilers. Coccidiosis induces significant economic loss in poultry production. This study was designed to identify the prevalence of Eimeria spp. in broilers in Gyeonggi province, Korea. Fecal samples from broilers at 94 farms were collected in two chicken slaughterhouses between March and June 2015. Eimeria infection was determined by microscopic examination and PCR using ITS-1 region. The prevalence of Eimeria was 58.5% (55 of 94). E. acervulina was identified in 96.4% of samples, E. tenella in 81.8%, E. maxima in 12.7%, E. praecox in 12.7%, E. brunetti in 5.5%, E. necatrix in 1.8%, and E. mitis in 1.8%. Body weight (BW) of broilers infected with both E. tenella and E. acervulina ($mean=1.53{\pm}0.19^Bkg$) was significantly lower than broilers with E. acervulina positive/E. tenalla negative ($mean=1.74{\pm}0.07^Akg$) or Eimeria negative ($mean=1.65{\pm}0.15^Akg$) (Duncan's multiple range test, P<0.01). High prevalence of Eimeria tenella and the impact on the broiler body weight shows the importance of this protozoa in broiler industry. Development of the periodic monitoring strategy and systemic management for the purpose of the prevention/eradication of Eimeria infection among broilers is required.

• 대한수의학회지
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• 제12권2호
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• pp.185-190
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• 1972

A preliminary survey for classification of coccidia isolated from domestic animals and poultry was broadly conducted by the morphological aspects of the $o{\ddot{o}}cysts$. The number of animals and birds used in this survey were 762 chickens, 30 rabbits, 37 goats, 18 swine, 39 cattle, 8 dogs, 132 ducks, 23 deer and 15 horses. The species classified in each animal and bird were six species in chicken, nine in rabbits, nine in goats, six in swine, six in cattle, one in dogs and negative in ducks, deer and horses. The coccidial species in each animal and bird were as follows: In chicken: Eimeria acervulina, E.maxima, E. mitis, E. necatrix, E. praecox, and E. tenella. In rabbits: Eimeria irresidua, E. magna, E. media, E. neolepolis, E. perforans, E. piriformis and E. stiedae. In goats: Eimeria ahsata, E. arloingi, E. crandalis, E. faurei, E. granulosa, E. intricata, E. ninakohlyakimovae, E. pallida, E. perva. In Swine: Eimeria deblieki, E. perminuta, E. palita, E. scabra, E. scrofae and Isospora suis. In Cattle : Eimeria bovis, E. bukidonensis, E. cylindrica, E ellipsoidalis, E subspherica and E. Zurnii. In dogs: Isospora bigemina.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제51권2호
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• pp.147-154
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• 2013

To control coccidiosis without using prophylactic medications, a DNA vaccine targeting the gametophyte antigen Gam56 from Eimeria maxima in chickens was constructed, and the immunogenicity and protective effects were evaluated. The ORF of Gam56 gene was cloned into an eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3.1(zeo)+. Expression of Gam56 protein in COS-7 cells transfected with recombinant plasmid pcDNA-Gam56 was confirmed by indirect immunofluorescence assay. The DNA vaccine was injected intramuscularly to yellow feathered broilers of 1-week old at 3 dosages (25, 50, and $100{\mu}g/chick$). Injection was repeated once 1 week later. One week after the second injection, birds were challenged orally with $5{\times}10^4$ sporulated oocysts of E. maxima, then weighed and killed at day 8 post challenge. Blood samples were collected and examined for specific peripheral blood lymphocyte proliferation activity and serum antibody levels. Compared with control groups, the administration of pcDNA-Gam56 vaccine markedly increased the lymphocyte proliferation activity (P<0.05) at day 7 and 14 after the first immunization. The level of lymphocyte proliferation started to decrease on day 21 after the first immunization. A similar trend was seen in specific antibody levels. Among the 3 pcDNA-Gam56 immunized groups, the median dosage group displayed the highest lymphocyte proliferation and antibody levels (P<0.05). The median dosage group had the greatest relative body weight gain (89.7%), and the greatest oocyst shedding reduction (53.7%). These results indicate that median dosage of DNA vaccine had good immunogenicity and immune protection effects, and may be used in field applications for coccidiosis control.

• 한국임상수의학회지
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.243-250
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• 2006

The chickens fed with the feeds supplemented with green tea(GT) and lactic acid bacteria(LB) were infected orally with 10,000 oocysts per chicken of E. maxima. The groups administered with the feeds supplemented with GT by 0.5% and 2.0% of feed showed the significant levels of decreasing in the number of oocysts shed for 5 days after E. maxima infection. The feeds supplemented with LB by 0.1% and 0.5% of feed were less effective in reducing the number of the fecal oocyst, compared with the groups administered with GT. To evaluate the immunoregulatory effects of the feed additives, the expression patterns of IL-2 and IFN-r in spleen cells were studied by RT-PCR and ELISA. The higher levels of IL-2 transcripts after E. maxima infection were observed in the groups with n, compared with the groups with LB and the mixture of GT and LB. The $IFN-\gamma$ mRNA bands were observed in the all of experimental groups except the uninfected control. The culture supernatants of Con A-stimulated spleen cells($5{\times}10^6cells/ml$) were measured for the concentration of IL-2 and $IFN-\gamma$ by ELISA. The levels of IL-2 and $IFN-\gamma$ on days 3 and 7 after E. maxima infection were significantly augmented in the groups with n. These results indicated that GT-supplemented feeds resulted in higher reduction of oocyst-shedding and more enhanced immune responses in the chicken infected with E. maxima, as compared with LB-supplemented feeds. According to the results, it was implicative that the supplements could be utilized for development of feed additives for anti-coccidiosis.

• 한국임상수의학회지
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.161-167
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• 2004

The present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of Eimeria infection in 1,300 slaughtered chickens from 130 farms in Gyeongnam, Jeonnam, Jeonbuk, Gyeongbuk and Chungnam during the period from October 2002 to August 2003. The results obtained are summarized as follows: 1. The prevalence of Eimeria infection in 130 chicken farms was 76.9% and Eimeria infection rates of Gyeongnam, Jeonbuk, Gyeongbuk, Jeonnam and Chungnam were 80%, 75%, 70%, 42.9%, respectively. That of Tongyoung was the highest infection(94.4%) than others districts in the Gyeongnam. 2. The prevalence of oocysts infection level in 1,300 slaughtered chickens from 5 districts was 33.4% and that of Jeonbuk was the highest rate(42%) and Gyeongbuk has the lowest rate(20%). Prevalence of OPG level of slaughtered chicken in Tongyoung was the highest rate(42.8%) in Gyeongnam. 3, Mixed infection rate of over types 2 was 79% and triple infection was shown the highest infection(33%) among the infection types. 4. Kinds of E. spp. were E. acerulina, E. mivati, E. necatrix, E. maxima, and E. tenella. E. tenella has the highest infection rate(78%) and E. necatrix has the lowest infection rate(36%) among the Eimeria spp. 5. The monthly prevalence of Eimeria infection was shown higher in July(94.4%) compared with other months and Jun was shown lower(57.9%). But, level of OPG was shown higher in summer season(July, August; over 40%) than that of winter season(January, February; 23.1%, 16%).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제30권10호
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• pp.1478-1485
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• 2017

Objective: The effects of vaccinating 18-day-old chicken embryos with the combination of recombinant Eimeria profilin plus Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens) NetB proteins mixed in the Montanide IMS adjuvant on the chicken immune response to necrotic enteritis (NE) were investigated using an Eimeria maxima (E. maxima)/C. perfringens co-infection NE disease model that we previously developed. Methods: Eighteen-day-old broiler embryos were injected with $100{\mu}L$ of phosphate-buffered saline, profilin, profilin plus necrotic enteritis B-like (NetB), profilin plus NetB/Montanide adjuvant (IMS 106), and profilin plus Net-B/Montanide adjuvant (IMS 101). After post-hatch birds were challenged with our NE experimental disease model, body weights, intestinal lesions, serum antibody levels to NetB, and proinflammatory cytokine and chemokine mRNA levels in intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes were measured. Results: Chickens in ovo vaccinated with recombinant profilin plus NetB proteins/IMS106 and recombinant profilin plus NetB proteins/IMS101 showed significantly increased body weight gains and reduced gut damages compared with the profilin-only group, respectively. Greater antibody response to NetB toxin were observed in the profilin plus NetB/IMS 106, and profilin plus NetB/IMS 101 groups compared with the other three vaccine/adjuvant groups. Finally, diminished levels of transcripts encoding for proinflammatory cytokines such as lipopolysaccharide-induced tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}$ factor, tumor necrosis factor superfamily 15, and interleukin-8 were observed in the intestinal lymphocytes of chickens in ovo injected with profilin plus NetB toxin in combination with IMS 106, and profilin plus NetB toxin in combination with IMS 101 compared with profilin protein alone bird. Conclusion: These results suggest that the Montanide IMS adjuvants potentiate host immunity to experimentally-induced avian NE when administered in ovo in conjunction with the profilin and NetB proteins, and may reduce disease pathology by attenuating the expression of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines implicated in disease pathogenesis.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제28권10호
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• pp.1496-1511
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• 2015

The study aimed to compare the necrotic enteritis (NE)-induced transcriptome differences between the spleens of Marek's disease resistant chicken line 6.3 and susceptible line 7.2 co-infected with Eimeria maxima/Clostridium perfringens using RNA-Seq. Total RNA from the spleens of two chicken lines were used to make libraries, generating 42,736,296 and 42,617,720 usable reads, which were assembled into groups of 29,897 and 29,833 mRNA genes, respectively. The transcriptome changes were investigated using the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) package, which indicated 3,255, 2,468 and 2,234 DEGs of line 6.3, line 7.2, and comparison between two lines, respectively (fold change ${\geq}2$, p<0.01). The transcription levels of 14 genes identified were further examined using qRT-PCR. The results of qRT-PCR were consistent with the RNA-seq data. All of the DEGs were analysed using gene ontology terms, the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database and the DEGs in each term were found to be more highly expressed in line 6.3 than in line 7.2. RNA-seq analysis indicated 139 immune related genes, 44 CD molecular genes and 150 cytokines genes which were differentially expressed among chicken lines 6.3 and 7.2 (fold change ${\geq}2$, p<0.01). Novel mRNA analysis indicated 15,518 novel genes, for which the expression was shown to be higher in line 6.3 than in line 7.2 including some immune-related targets. These findings will help to understand host-pathogen interaction in the spleen and elucidate the mechanism of host genetic control of NE, and provide basis for future studies that can lead to the development of marker-based selection of highly disease-resistant chickens.