Oral administration of Allium sativum extract protects against infectious bursal disease in chickens

Kedao Teng,Lili Wang,Sufen Zhao,Weiwei Zhang,Yuanyuan Jia,Yunfei Ma

doi:10.15302/j-fase-2015080

Abstract

Garlic (Allium sativum, Liliaceae) has been safely used for more than 5000 years, and research on garlic extract is rapidly increasing because of its multiple biological functions. The in vivo effects of oral administration of garlic mixture (GM, water-soluble extract) on infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV)-infected specific pathogen free male white leghorn chicken were examined through histopathological, immunohistochemical, and Western blot analyses, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The results confirmed the protective effects of oral administration of 5 mg$kg BW GM (Group GM1) on bursal lesions after IBDV infection. In particular, protein expression of IBDV in the bursa decreased in Group GM1, indicating that GM administration decreased IBDV replication in the bursa. Furthermore, immunoglobulin Mand A-bearing B lymphocytes significantly increased 7 days post infection in bursae in Group GM1 (P< 0.01), suggesting that the oral administration of 5 mg$kg GM offers moderate protection against B cell destruction after IBDV infection. During infection, the concentration of bursal interferon gamma (IFN-g) increased and peaked in Group GM1 earlier than in Group T (IBDV-exposed), demonstrating that GM administration prompted the production of IFN-g to protect against IBDV infection.

Highlights

Infectious bursal disease (IBD), caused by the IBD virus (IBDV), is an acute, highly contagious, and immunosuppressive viral disease that infects young chickens[1,2,3,4]
A few injured bursal lymphoid follicles persisted in Group T at 7 dpi, and local infiltration of lymphocytes (LIL) and fibrillation were investigated in the interfollicular areas (Fig. 2a, Fig. 2b)
A high number of lymphocytes were detected in the lymphoid follicles in Group GM1 at 5 to 7 dpi; we speculated that a number of B lymphocytes were preserved because of the oral administration of 5 mg$kg–1 GM

Summary

Introduction

Infectious bursal disease (IBD), caused by the IBD virus (IBDV), is an acute, highly contagious, and immunosuppressive viral disease that infects young chickens[1,2,3,4]. Garlic (Allium sativum, Liliaceae), a rich source of bioactive compounds, has been safely used as a flavoring, preventive, and curative agent for more than 5000 years worldwide[15,16]. It is notable for its antiarthritic, antimicrobial, antithrombotic, antitumor, hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic properties[17,18]. Our previous study has shown that GO plays an active role in resistance against IBDV infection[25]; GO administration methods are limited because of its solubility. We designed a method to extract the water-soluble allicin (garlic mixture, GM) from crushed garlic by steam distillation, but the antiviral effects of GM are little known. In the study reported here, we examined the effects of oral administration of GM on bursal tissue damage in IBDV-infected specific pathogen-free (SPF) male white leghorn chickens, on changes in bursal IgM+ and immunoglobulin A-bearing

Methods

Results

Conclusion