Krameria lappacea roots extract to rescue coccidiosis-mediated inflammation in the jejunum of C57BL/6 mice

Rewaida Abdel-Gaber^1*Ghada Alamari¹Mohamed A Dkhil²Saeed El-Ashram³Nawal Al- Hoshani⁴Esam Al-shaebi¹Saleh Al-Quraishy¹

• ¹King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• ²Helwan University, Helwan, Cairo, Egypt
• ³Foshan University, Foshan, Guangdong Province, China
• ⁴Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Introduction Coccidiosis is a protozoan disease caused by Eimeria species, which multiply in the intestinal tract and lead to severe inflammatory responses. While coccidiostats are available for control, resistance to these treatments has been confirmed, underscoring the need for new eco-friendly approaches. In recent years, natural plant sources have gained attention as effective alternatives for treating various parasitic diseases. Krameria lappacea has been used in traditional medicine due to its pharmacological properties. This study examined the effects of the aqueous methanolic extract of K. lappacea roots (KLRE) on jejunal inflammation and immune response in a murine model infected with Eimeria papillata.s analyzed using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).Results Our study demonstrated that mice infected with E. papillata produced an average of 5.387 × 106 ± 4.29 × 105 oocysts per gram of feces by day 5 post-infection. In contrast, the output was significantly reduced to 1.308 × 106 ± 1.36 × 105 oocysts per gram of feces in mice treated with KLRE. These findings suggest that the host immune response to the intracellular Eimeria parasite triggers inflammation and injury in the jejunum of the mice. This was evidenced by several factors: (i) an elevated inflammatory histological score, (ii) an increased cellular immune response characterized by neutrophils and lymphocytes, (iii) elevated protein levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, measured at approximately 13.67 ± 2.07, 78.98 ± 4.17, and 222.28 ± 10.18 pg/ml, respectively, and (iv) upregulated expression of the mRNA genes CXCL10, IFi202b, and SPP-1, which showed fold changes of approximately 2.83, 3.55, and 3.07-fold, respectively. Our study found that all parameters associated with the infection were significantly altered during treatment with KLRE.Conclusion Our data showed that KLRE treatment significantly reduced inflammation and histological damage in the jejunum caused by E. papillata infections.