Mycoplasma gallisepticum(MG) is a common avian pathogen that mainly infects poultry, causingsignificant reductions in body weight gain and egg production, along with damage to immune organs andimmunosuppression. MG is...Mycoplasma gallisepticum(MG) is a common avian pathogen that mainly infects poultry, causingsignificant reductions in body weight gain and egg production, along with damage to immune organs andimmunosuppression. MG is susceptible to co-infections with other pathogens, leading to increased mortalityrates and significant economic losses in the global poultry industry. While antibiotics have been extensivelyapplied worldwide to treat MG infections in poultry production, concerns regarding antibiotic resistanceand residue remain prevalent. Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), renowned for its natural, safe, andnon-toxic properties, has shown significant anti-inflammatory and immune-enhancing effects. This studyaimed to investigate the protective effect of TCM on production performance and its impact on MG-inducedimmunosuppression through the MAPK/ERK/JNK signaling pathway in chickens. Our results showed that TCMalleviated the negative effects of MG infection on production performance, as evidenced by improvements inbody weight gain, feed conversion rate, survival rate, and immune organ index. TCM exhibited direct inhibitionof the MG proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, TCM treatment promoted the normalization of tracheaand lung tissue structure in MG-infected chickens, leading to a significant reduction in inflammatory damage.Moreover, following the treatment with the TCM, the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1β(IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) decreased significantly, accompanied by the downregulation of pro-apoptotic genes caspase3, caspase9, and BAX, both in vitro and in vivo. A mechanism-based study showed that in vitro and in vivo treatment with the TCM significantly reduced the expression of key proteins, including early growth response gene 1(EGR1), p-ERK, p-JNK, and p-JUN. Altogether, TCM improved body weight gain, inhibited pro-inflammation responses, and alleviated tissue damage by inhibiting the MAPK/ERK/JNK signaling pathway to protect the performance and immune system of MG-infected chickens.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32273010 and 31972681)the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFD0501500)。
文摘Mycoplasma gallisepticum(MG) is a common avian pathogen that mainly infects poultry, causingsignificant reductions in body weight gain and egg production, along with damage to immune organs andimmunosuppression. MG is susceptible to co-infections with other pathogens, leading to increased mortalityrates and significant economic losses in the global poultry industry. While antibiotics have been extensivelyapplied worldwide to treat MG infections in poultry production, concerns regarding antibiotic resistanceand residue remain prevalent. Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), renowned for its natural, safe, andnon-toxic properties, has shown significant anti-inflammatory and immune-enhancing effects. This studyaimed to investigate the protective effect of TCM on production performance and its impact on MG-inducedimmunosuppression through the MAPK/ERK/JNK signaling pathway in chickens. Our results showed that TCMalleviated the negative effects of MG infection on production performance, as evidenced by improvements inbody weight gain, feed conversion rate, survival rate, and immune organ index. TCM exhibited direct inhibitionof the MG proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, TCM treatment promoted the normalization of tracheaand lung tissue structure in MG-infected chickens, leading to a significant reduction in inflammatory damage.Moreover, following the treatment with the TCM, the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1β(IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) decreased significantly, accompanied by the downregulation of pro-apoptotic genes caspase3, caspase9, and BAX, both in vitro and in vivo. A mechanism-based study showed that in vitro and in vivo treatment with the TCM significantly reduced the expression of key proteins, including early growth response gene 1(EGR1), p-ERK, p-JNK, and p-JUN. Altogether, TCM improved body weight gain, inhibited pro-inflammation responses, and alleviated tissue damage by inhibiting the MAPK/ERK/JNK signaling pathway to protect the performance and immune system of MG-infected chickens.
