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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2025, Vol. 24 Issue (6): 2356-2370    DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.11.043
Animal Science · Veterinary Medicine Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Protection of chickens from Mycoplasma gallisepticum through the MAPK/ERK/JNK pathway by a compound of ten Chinese medicine formulas
Tengfei Wang*, Changyong Fan*, Yufei Xiao, Shan Lü, Guangyang Jiang, Mengyun Zou, Yingjie Wang, Qiao Guo, Zhenghao Che, Xiuli Peng#

Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education/Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China

 Highlights 
TCM improved body weight gain, feed conversion, survival rate, and immune organ index in MG-infected chickens.
TCM reduced MG-induced inflammation and tissue damage by lowering pro-inflammatory cytokines and downregulating pro-apoptotic genes.
TCM inhibited the MAPK/ERK/JNK signaling pathway, protecting against MG-induced immunosuppression.
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摘要  鸡毒支原体(Mycoplasma gallisepticumMG)是养禽业中一种常见且易引起严重问题的病原体。MG感染可导致多种疾病,包括鸡慢性呼吸道疾病,气管炎和结膜炎等。其典型症状表现为呼吸急促、打喷嚏和眼部分泌物增多。此外,MG感染不仅会破坏免疫器官引起免疫抑制,还会导致鸡的生产性能下降,包括体重增长减缓、蛋产量减少,甚至死亡,严重威胁了养禽业的可持续发展。目前,防治 MG 感染的有效措施是使用抗生素。然而,随着抗生素的使用和滥用,MG对抗生素的耐药性也在增加,同时引发食品中的药物残留问题,对人类食品安全构成潜在威胁。为了寻找可持续的防治方法,本研究采用了葛根、虎杖、黄芩、甘草等九味中草药配伍的复方,结合体内和体外实验,探究了其对MG的防治效果及作用机制。 研究结果显示,中药复方在体内外均能有效抑制MG的增殖。在生产性能方面,中药复方显著降低了MG感染引起的死亡率,提高了饲料转化率,并显著改善了体重增长减缓的问题。此外,与未治疗组相比,中药复方显著提高了免疫器官指数,增强了鸡体的免疫力,缓解了气管和肺组织的损伤,并抑制了组织和细胞的炎症反应。更重要的是,研究结果显示,中药复方对MG感染具有很好的预防效果。为深入揭示中药复方抵抗MG感染的分子机制,我们进行了网络药理学分析,并通过体内外实验验证了MAPK/ERK/JNK通路是中药复方抑制MG感染的关键调节通路。本研究不仅结合体内外的实验为解析MG的致病机制提供了理论支持,同时也强有力地表明,中药复方可以有效替代抗生素,缓解MG感染对养禽业的危害。这一发现对于养禽业的可持续发展具有重要的实际意义,并为未来的研究提供了有力支持。

Abstract  

Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) is a common avian pathogen that mainly infects poultry, causing significant reductions in body weight gain and egg production, along with damage to immune organs and immunosuppression.  MG is susceptible to co-infections with other pathogens, leading to increased mortality rates and significant economic losses in the global poultry industry.  While antibiotics have been extensively applied worldwide to treat MG infections in poultry production, concerns regarding antibiotic resistance and residue remain prevalent.  Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), renowned for its natural, safe, and non-toxic properties, has shown significant anti-inflammatory and immune-enhancing effects.  This study aimed to investigate the protective effect of TCM on production performance and its impact on MG-induced immunosuppression through the MAPK/ERK/JNK signaling pathway in chickens.  Our results showed that TCM alleviated the negative effects of MG infection on production performance, as evidenced by improvements in body weight gain, feed conversion rate, survival rate, and immune organ index.  TCM exhibited direct inhibition of the MG proliferation in vitro and in vivo.  Furthermore, TCM treatment promoted the normalization of trachea and 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.

Keywords:  Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG)        traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)        production performance        inflammation       MAPK/ERK/JNK              chicken  
Received: 21 July 2023   Online: 28 November 2023   Accepted: 14 November 2023
Fund: This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32273010 and 31972681) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFD0501500).
About author:  #Correspondence Xiuli Peng, Tel: +86-27-87281396, E-mail: xlpengsishun@mail.hzau.edu.cn * These authors contributed equally to this study.

Cite this article: 

Tengfei Wang, Changyong Fan, Yufei Xiao, Shan Lü, Guangyang Jiang, Mengyun Zou, Yingjie Wang, Qiao Guo, Zhenghao Che, Xiuli Peng. 2025. Protection of chickens from Mycoplasma gallisepticum through the MAPK/ERK/JNK pathway by a compound of ten Chinese medicine formulas. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 24(6): 2356-2370.

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