Influence of Artemisia absinthium essential oil on antioxidative system of broilers experimentally infected with Eimeria oocysts

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Artemisia absinthium essential oil (AAEO) on the enzymatic activity of superoxide-dismutase (SOD), glutathione-peroxidase (GSHPx), glutathione-reductase (GR), peroxidase (POD) and xanthine-oxidase (XOD) and the content of lipid peroxides (LPx) and glutathione (GSH) in broilers infected with an oocyst mixture of Eimeria tenella, Eimeria mitis and Eimeria necatrix, compared to coccidicide salinomycine. The investigation was carried out on 240 Arbour acres broilers of both sexes. Broilers were distributed completely randomly into four treatment groups: treatment group A was uninfected and untreated; treatment group B was infected and kept untreated; treatment group C preventively received coccidicide salinomycine in a dose of 60 mg/kg of feed and inoculated with an oocyst mixture on the 21st day-of-age; treatment group D received AAEO in their feed in a dose of 3 g/kg and were infected with the oocyst mixture on the 21st day of age. During the study, bloody diarrhoea was observed from the 3rd to 9th day after the challenge. After six days of infection, the most intensive bloody diarrhoea was noticed in the un-medicated treatment group. In order to evaluate the effects of essential oil on poultry coccidiosis induced by Eimeria spp., oocysts per gram of faeces (OPG) were also investigated in all treatment groups. During the experiment, the oocyst output and mortality rate were significantly lower (P<0.05) in the AAEO treatment group (D-2) in comparison to the positive control (B), while significant excretion of oocysts was noticed in the faeces of non-treated broilers infected with Eimeria spp. The broilers treated with salinomycin (C-2) showed complete reduction of oocysts in their faeces at 30 days of age. The results obtained in this study indicate changes in the content and the activity of the non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidative protective systems in blood hemolysates of infected chickens. The positive preventive effects of AAEO, applied in a concentration of 3g/kg of feed, were high on the antioxidative system of erythrocytes. On the basis of the obtained results, it was concluded that AAEO was effective in lowering the intensity of bloody diarrhoea, as well in reducing the oocyst output of the preventively treated and infected broilers; hence it may be used as a prophylactic feed additive. Moreover, AAEO showed an important role in the activation of antioxidative protection systems in infected broilers, which is of great interest since free radicals and lipid peroxides, formed as a result of lower food intake and exhaustion of the organism induced by diarrhoea, could cause cellular membrane damage.