Abstract
Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play an important role in intestinal extracellular matrix homeostasis. An overexpression of MMPs results in tissue destruction and local inflammation and has been associated with multiple inflammatory diseases. These host proteases might also be important in tissue damage caused by infectious agents, such as in intestinal damage in Clostridium perfringens-induced avian necrotic enteritis (NE). The aim of the present study was to elucidate the effect of a C. perfringens infection on the MMP activity in the small intestine of birds with a pre-disposing coccidial infection to obtain a more thorough understanding of the pathogenesis of NE. For this purpose, the gelatinolytic activity present in jejunal tissue of Eimeria infected birds which were challenged with either a pathogenic C. perfringens type G strain or a commensal C. perfringens type A strain was analyzed using substrate zymography. The results show that infection of broilers with Eimeria and different C. perfringens strains, independent of their pathogenicity, decreases the expression of a 40–45 kDa host collagenase in the jejunum, as compared to the expression in Eimeria-infected control birds. It was also shown that the expression of 2 MMPs with molecular weights of approximately 50–60 and 60–70 kDa was significantly lower in necrotic tissue as compared to the activity in macroscopically healthy tissue adjacent to the lesion. These results indicate that host collagenases are not elicited by the C. perfringens infection for permeabilizing the host mucosa to allow penetration of the NetB toxin in Eimeria infected broilers.
Highlights
Necrotic Enteritis (NE) is one of the most common and financially devastating bacterial diseases in the modern poultry industry [1, 2]
1-day-old unvaccinated Ross 308 broilers were randomly allocated to 3 different treatment groups with 27 birds/pen (4 replicate pens challenged with strain CP56, 1 pen challenged with the commensal C. perfringens strain JIR4857 and 1 pen with control birds, which were not challenged with C. perfringens)
Lesions of necrotic enteritis are more prevalent and severe in the jejunum Broilers of the control group which were not challenged with C. perfringens but received all predisposing factors including Eimeria infection did not develop NE (n = 26)
Summary
Necrotic Enteritis (NE) is one of the most common and financially devastating bacterial diseases in the modern poultry industry [1, 2]. Van Damme et al Vet Res (2020) 51:100 gastro-intestinal cancer [7,8,9,10,11] These host collagenases might be important in tissue damage caused by infectious agents, such as in intestinal damage in NE. Collagen is widely distributed throughout the gastrointestinal tract and is an integral component of the connective tissue and basement membrane of the intestinal mucosal layer [12,13,14] Disruption of this structural protein may result in loss of tissue integrity and allow penetration of bacterial toxins to deeper tissues and so contribute to subsequent tissue necrosis [15]. Olkowski and colleagues showed an increased MMP activity in necrotic tissue of broilers which were challenged with NE-producing C. perfringens strains as compared to tissue of non-challenged birds [16]
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