AUTHOR=Jiang Zipeng , Su Weifa , Wen Chaoyue , Li Wentao , Zhang Yu , Gong Tao , Du Shuai , Wang Xinxia , Lu Zeqing , Jin Mingliang , Wang Yizhen 

TITLE=Effect of Porcine Clostridium perfringens on Intestinal Barrier, Immunity, and Quantitative Analysis of Intestinal Bacterial Communities in Mice

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.881878

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2022.881878

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Clostridium perfringens</italic> (<italic>C. perfringens</italic>) is one of the main pathogens which can cause a range of histotoxic and enteric diseases in humans or animals (pigs, or broilers). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates these bacteria cause nearly 1 million illnesses in the United States every year. For animal husbandry, necrotizing enteritis caused by <italic>C. perfringens</italic> can cost the global livestock industry between $2 billion and $6 billion per yea<italic>r</italic>. <italic>C. perfringens</italic>-infected animals can be isolated for its identification and pathology. A suitable animal model is one of the essential conditions for studying the disease pathogenesis. In previous studies, mice have been used as subjects for a variety of Clostridium perfringens toxicity tests. Thus, this study was designed to build a mouse model infected porcine <italic>C. perfringens</italic> which was isolated from the <italic>C.perfringens</italic>-infected pigs. A total of 32 6-week-old male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into four groups. Control group was orally administrated with PBS (200 μL) on day 0. Low group, Medium group, and High group were gavaged with 200 ul of PBS resuspension containing 8.0 × 10<sup>7</sup> CFU, 4.0 × 10<sup>8</sup> CFU, and 2.0 × 10<sup>9</sup> CFU, respectively. We examined growth performance, immune status, intestinal barrier integrity, apoptosis-related genes expression, and copies of <italic>C. perfringens</italic> in mice. The results showed that the growth performance declined and intestinal structure was seriously damaged in High group. Meanwhile, pro-inflammatory factors (IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6) were significantly increased (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05) in High group compared to other groups. The tight junctions and pro-apoptosis related genes' expression significantly decreased (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05) in High group, and high dose caused a disruption of intestinal villi integrity and tissue injury in the jejunum of mice. In addition, the enumerations of <italic>C. perfringens, Escherichia coli</italic>, and <italic>Lactobacillus</italic> explained why the gut of High group mice was seriously damaged, because the <italic>C. perfringens</italic> and <italic>Escherichia coli</italic> significantly enriched (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05), and <italic>Lactobacillus</italic> dramatically decreased (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05). Overall, our results provide an experimental and theoretical basis for understanding the pathogenesis and exploring the effects of porcine <italic>C. perfringens</italic> on mice.</p>