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Abstract.- The current work aimed to study the ameliorative effect of berberine on the induced pathological changes in nutrients homeostasis in mice infected with Eimeria papillata. Mice were randomly divided into three groups. The first group represents the control non-infected animals. Second and third groups were orally infected with1.5A-103 sporulated E. papillata oCysts. The 3rd group was treated with a daily dose (10 mg/kg) of berberine chloridesolution for five successive days. All animals were sacrificed on day 5 p.i.. E. papillata infection induced a state of disturbance in nutrient homeostasis. Blood glucose levels and total proteins were elevated with concurrent decrease in level of carbohydrates and soluble proteins in jejunum of mice. Also, infection induced a hyperlipidemic status as shown from the increase in triglycerides, total lipids, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) with the mutual decrease in high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) and phospholipids. Also, E. papillata caused marked disturbance in blood metal ion concentrations. Both ferrous and selenium ion levels were decreased, while sodium and potassium ion concentrations were increased. Berberine treatment of infected mice with E. papillata showed a great enhancement in nutrient homeostatic status and also reduced blood glucose level and restored jejunal carbohydrate content. In addition, berberine exerted hypolipidemic effect on the increased fractions of carbohydrates and lipids. Finally, berberine showed a marked enhancement in the levels of altered blood metal ions by the infection. Palm pollen grains or their extracts could be used within food mixtures or water to correct the induced metabolic disturbance and growth depression assCiated with the intestinal cCcidial infections.
Key words: Berberine, cCcidiosis, impaired nutrients, Eimeria papillata, mice.
INTRODUCTION Eimeriosis is a cosmopolitan serious disease infecting nearly all mammal species. Its causal agent (Sporozoites) reproduce via fast and invasive multiplication within intestinal tract causing tissue damage and induce severe lCal and systemic inflammatory response (Al-Quraishi et al.,2012; Dkhil et al., 2012) leading to diminished feed intake and nutrient absorption, reduced body-weight gain, dehydration, blood loss, and increased susceptibility to other diseases in different animal communities. Thus, it causes huge economic loss in the field of animal farming, milk and meat production (Bhat et al., 1996; Dkhil and Al- Quraishi, 2012). Eimeria papillata parasitize mice and provides a convenient model for studyinganimal cCcidiosis as its...