Balta, IgoriMarcu, AdelaLinton, MarkKelly, CarmelStef, LaviniaPet, IoanWard, PatrickPircalabioru, Gratiela GradisteanuChifiriuc, CarmenGundogdu, OzanCallaway, ToddCorcionivoschi, Nicolae2024-02-282024-02-282021-08-10Balta, I., Marcu, A., Linton, M., Kelly, C., Stef, L., Pet, I., Ward, P., Pircalabioru, G.G., Chifiriuc, C., Gundogdu, O., Callaway, T. and Corcionivoschi, N. (2021) ‘The in vitro and in vivo anti-virulent effect of organic acid mixtures against Eimeria tenella and Eimeria bovis’, Scientific Reports. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-95459-9.2045-2322https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-95459-9Publication history: Accepted - 23 July 2021; Published - 10 August 2021Eimeria tenella and Eimeria bovis are complex parasites responsible for the condition of coccidiosis, that invade the animal gastrointestinal intestinal mucosa causing severe diarrhoea, loss of appetite or abortions, with devastating impacts on the farming industry. The negative impacts of these parasitic infections are enhanced by their role in promoting the colonisation of the gut by common foodborne pathogens. The aim of this study was to test the anti-Eimeria efficacy of maltodextrin, sodium chloride, citric acid, sodium citrate, silica, malic acid, citrus extract, and olive extract individually, in vitro and in combination, in vivo. Firstly, in vitro infection models demonstrated that antimicrobials reduced (p < 0.05), both singly and in combination (AG), the ability of E. tenella and E. bovis to infect MDBK and CLEC-213 epithelial cells, and the virulence reduction was similar to that of the anti-coccidial drug Robenidine. Secondly, using an in vivo broiler infection model, we demonstrated that AG reduced (p = 0.001) E. tenella levels in the caeca and excreted faeces, reduced inflammatory oxidative stress, improved the immune response through reduced ROS, increased Mn-SOD and SCFA levels. Levels of IgA and IgM were significantly increased in caecal tissues of broilers that received 0.5% AG and were associated with improved (p < 0.0001) tissue lesion scores. A prophylactic approach increased the anti-parasitic effect in vivo, and results indicated that administration from day 0, 5 and 10 post-hatch reduced tissue lesion scores (p < 0.0001) and parasite excretion levels (p = 0.002). Conclusively, our in vitro and in vivo results demonstrate that the natural antimicrobial mixture (AG) reduced parasitic infections through mechanisms that reduced pathogen virulence and attenuated host inflammatory events.en© The Author(s) 2021 Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Article