title: Apoptotic effects of antimalarial artemisinin on the second generation merozoites of Eimeria tenella and parasitized host cells.
abstract: Artemisinin (ART) is a sesquiterpene lactone isolated from Artemesia annua L., and well-known for the antimalarial treatment. Recently many reports show the effectiveness of ART in the control of poultry coccidiosis, but the mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we found that ART could effectively improve the pathological alterations in chicken ceca infected by E. tenella with decreased number of second generation merozoites (SGM). In addition, ART significantly reduced mitochondrial membrane potential by 47.4% and notably increased apoptotic rate by 61.9% in SGM. Morphological analysis showed that SGM with ART treatment represented some apoptotic features such as the condensability of chromatin, increase of cytoplasmic density and the marginalization of heterochromatin. We also found that ART treatment significantly increased caspase-3 activity whereas reduced Bcl-2 activity in cecum tissues compared with the infection group by immunohistochemical analysis. These results suggest the anticoccidial effects of ART are closely related to facilitate apoptosis in both merozoites and the infected host cells. This study makes a better understanding of ART against poultry coccidiosis.
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, PR China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou 225009, PR China.
authors.forename: Pinghua
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mo
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, PR China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou 225009, PR China.
authors.forename: Qingtao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, PR China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou 225009, PR China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, PR China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou 225009, PR China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, PR China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou 225009, PR China.
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, PR China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou 225009, PR China. Electronic address: jingui_li@163.com.
authors.forename: Jingui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D037621:Artemisinins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002432:Cecum / Q000473:pathology; D002645:Chickens / Q000469:parasitology*; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000469:parasitology; D003049:Coccidiostats / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016786:Eimeria tenella / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D052940:Merozoites / Q000187:drug effects; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials; D037621:Artemisinins; D003049:Coccidiostats; C031327:artemisinin
keywords: Apoptosis; Artemisinin; Cecum; Eimeria tenella; Second generation merozoites (SGM)