Comparison of live Eimeria vaccination with in-feed salinomycin on growth and immune status in broiler chickens

• Published in: Research in veterinary science 2013-08, Vol.95 (1), p.110-114
• Main Authors: Lee, Kyung-Woo, Lillehoj, Hyun-Soon, Jang, Seung-Ik, Lee, Sung-Hyen, Bautista, Daniel A., Donald Ritter, G., Lillehoj, Erik P., Siragusa, Gregory R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Antibiotics; antibodies; Antibodies, Protozoan - blood; antibody formation; Automation; bacterial antigens; body weight; Body Weight - immunology; broiler chickens; Chickens; Clostridium perfringens; Coccidiosis; Coccidiosis - immunology; Coccidiosis - parasitology; Coccidiosis - prevention & control; Coccidiosis - veterinary; coccidiostats; Colleges & universities; Cytokine; Cytokines; Cytokines - genetics; Cytokines - immunology; Cytotoxicity; disease control; Eimeria; Eimeria - immunology; Feeds; gene expression; genes; Growth performance; Herpes viruses; Immunity; Infections; interferon-gamma; interleukin-10; interleukin-4; interleukin-6; live vaccines; liveweight gain; medicated feeds; messenger RNA; Nitric oxide; Nitric Oxide - blood; oral vaccination; Parasites; Parasitic diseases; Poultry; Poultry Diseases - immunology; Poultry Diseases - parasitology; Poultry Diseases - prevention & control; poultry production; proteins; Protozoan Vaccines - pharmacology; Pyrans - pharmacology; Random Allocation; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction - veterinary; RNA, Messenger - chemistry; RNA, Messenger - genetics; salinomycin; tumor necrosis factors; Veterinary medicine
• ISSN: 0034-5288; 1532-2661
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2013.02.005

Coccidiosis vaccines and anticoccidial drugs are commonly used to control Eimeria infection during commercial poultry production. The present study was conducted to compare the relative effectiveness of these two disease control strategies in broiler chickens in an experimental research facility. Birds were orally vaccinated with a live, attenuated vaccine (Inovocox), or were provided with in-feed salinomycin (Bio-Cox), and body weights, serum levels of nitric oxide (NO) and antibodies against Eimeria profilin and Clostridium perfringens PFO proteins, and intestinal levels of cytokine gene transcripts were measured. Vaccinated chickens had increased body weights, greater NO levels, and higher profilin and PFO antibody levels compared with salinomycin-fed birds. Transcripts for interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor superfamily 15, and interferon-γ were increased, while mRNAs for IL-4 and IL-10 were decreased, in immunized chickens compared with salinomycin-treated chickens. In conclusion, vaccination against avian coccidiosis may be more effective compared with dietary salinomycin for increasing body weight and augmenting pro-inflammatory immune status during commercial poultry production.