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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1514115

Effects of Salmonella Typhimurium infection on intestinal flora and intestinal tissue arachidonic acid metabolism in Wenchang chickens

Provisionally accepted
Shenghong Chen Shenghong Chen *Yaochen Xie Yaochen Xie *Dingqian Guo Dingqian Guo *Tiansen Li Tiansen Li *Zhen Tan Zhen Tan Xuhua Ran Xuhua Ran *XIAOBO WEN XIAOBO WEN *
  • Hainan University, Haikou, China

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

    Salmonella infections can lead to intestinal inflammation and metabolic disorders in birds. However, whether arachidonic acid (ARA) metabolism is involved in Salmonella-induced intestinal inflammation remains unclear. This experiment investigated the changes in cecal flora and ARA metabolism in Hainan Wenchang chickens infected with S. Typhimurium using 16s rDNA sequencing and targeted metabolomics. The results showed that the levels of ARA metabolites were increased in the cecum tissue of Wenchang chickens after infection with S. Typhimurium, including prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α), lipoxin A4 (LXA4), ±8(9)-EET, ±11(12)-EET, and ±8,9-DiHETrE. The content of key enzymes for ARA production and metabolism (Phospholipase A2 PLA2 and Cyclooxygenase-2 COX-2) in chicken cecum tissues was increased after S. Typhimurium infection. The relative mRNA levels of inflammatory factors were also increased after infection, including Interferon-γ (IFN-γ), Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), Interleukin-4 (IL-4), and Interleukin-6 (IL-6). In HD11 cells, the use of a cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitor reduced the increased levels of COX-2 and PGF2α induced by S. Typhimurium infection and effectively reduced the inflammatory response. In addition, the number of beneficial genera (e.g., Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, and Odorobacterium) in the cecum of Wenchang chickens was significantly reduced after infection with S. Typhimurium. The present study revealed the structure of cecal flora in S. Typhimurium-infected Wenchang chickens. In addition, this study demonstrated that S. Typhimurium activates the ARA cyclooxygenase metabolic pathway, which in turn mediates the development of intestinal inflammation in Wenchang chickens. The results can provide data support and theoretical support for the prevention and control of avian salmonellosis.

    Keywords: Salmonella typhimurium, Gut Microbiota, lipid oxidation, Arachidonic Acid, Wenchang chicken

    Received: 20 Oct 2024; Accepted: 06 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Xie, Guo, Li, Tan, Ran and WEN. 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:
    Shenghong Chen, Hainan University, Haikou, China
    Yaochen Xie, Hainan University, Haikou, China
    Dingqian Guo, Hainan University, Haikou, China
    Tiansen Li, Hainan University, Haikou, China
    Xuhua Ran, Hainan University, Haikou, China
    XIAOBO WEN, Hainan University, Haikou, China

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