Gut Microbiota sequencing
Rabbit coccidiosis is one of the most important parasitic diseases threatening the domestic rabbit breeding industry. This study aims to clarify the mechanism by which rabbit coccidia infection affects the host's intestinal mucosal immune barrier. Through dual identification by morphological examination and PCR, mixed infections of five coccidia species, including Eimeria flavescens, Eimeria intestinalis, Eimeria magna, Eimeria vejdovskyi, and Eimeria perforans, were confirmed in the rabbit farm. An infection model was established, and multi-dimensional technical methods such as histopathology, cytokine determination, key protein detection, antioxidant index detection, and 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing of intestinal microbiota were used to analyze the mechanism of rabbit coccidia-induced damage to the mucosal immune barrier.The results showed that rabbit coccidia infection caused severe intestinal pathological changes and inflammatory responses, as well as oxidative stress and intestinal flora dysbiosis, leading to a decrease in beneficial intestinal bacteria and enrichment of pathogenic bacteria. Further findings indicated that rabbit coccidia infection significantly impairs the host's intestinal mucosal immune barrier through the pathway of "structural damage - downregulation of tight junctions - immune and microecological imbalance". These results provide a theoretical basis for in-depth analysis of the pathogenic mechanism of coccidia and the development of prevention and control strategies.