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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Intestinal Microbiome
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1448516
This article is part of the Research Topic Insights of Probiotics and Fermented Diet on Gut Microbiome View all 4 articles

Effects of fermented Artemisia annua on the intestinal microbiota and metabolites of Hu lambs with naturally infected with Eimeria spp

Provisionally accepted
Shuaiqi Liu Shuaiqi Liu Shiheng Li Shiheng Li Shunli Lu Shunli Lu Mingfan Yang Mingfan Yang Manyu Liu Manyu Liu Juanfeng Li Juanfeng Li Senyang Li Senyang Li FUCHUN JIAN FUCHUN JIAN *
  • Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Sheep coccidiosis could disturb the balance of intestinal microbiota, causing diarrhea, and even death in lambs. Chemical drugs are the primary method of treating sheep coccidiosis, but their use will bring drug resistance, toxic side effects, drug residues, and other problems. Chinese herbal medicines are investigated as alternative methods for controlling coccidian infections. Methods: In this study, the effect of fermented Artemisia annua (FA) on oocysts per gram (OPG), average daily gain (ADG), and expression of inflammatory factors were investigated in lambs that were naturally infected with coccidia. Results: The results showed that the FA had similar anti-coccidiosis effect to the original drug, while the FA demonstrated a more significant effect on weight gain, and a better ability to reduce the inflammatory response compared to the unfermented drug during the treatment period (P < 0.05). Furthermore, High-throughput sequencing technology was used to study the effects of FA on intestinal microbiota, and fecal metabolites of naturally infected lambs. The species richness of intestinal microbiota of lambs was significantly improved by FA. The abundance of bacteria unclassified_Muribaculaceae, and UCG_005 were increased by fermentation of A. annua. The abundance of bacteria Escherichia_Shigella, unclassified_Clostridia_UCG_014, and Alistipes was reduced. The prevention, and treatment of coccidiosis by fermentation of A. annua may also be related to a series of metabolites affected by intestinal microbiota, including artemisinin, Lysol-Proline, and TRP-tyrosine. Conclusion: FA was found to have superior anti-coccidiosis, anti-inflammatory, and weight gain effects compared to the original Artemisia annua. Intestinal microbes and metabolites such as unclassified_Muribaculaceae, UCG-005, and Artemisinin were identified, suggesting their potential significance. Alistipes was proposed as a biomarker for predicting intestinal coccidia outbreak risk in lambs, pending further validation. The correlation between microbiota, and metabolites may provide new insights into pathogenic changes associated with Eimeria spp.

    Keywords: Fermentation, Artemisia annua, Eimeria, Hu lambs, intestinal microbiota, Metabolites

    Received: 13 Jun 2024; Accepted: 03 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Liu, Li, Lu, Yang, Liu, Li, Li and JIAN. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: FUCHUN JIAN, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China

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