Awad Wageha A, Ruhnau Daniel, Doupovec Barbara, Hess Claudia, Schatzmayr Dian, Hess Michael, Grenier Bertrand
Clinical Centre for Population Medicine in Fish, Pig and Poultry, Clinical Department for Farm Animals and Food System Science, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria.
DSM Animal Nutrition and Health, Research Center Tulln, Technopark 1, Tulln, Austria.
Sci Rep. 2025 Apr 19;15(1):13531. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-97672-2.
The mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) is of high importance among feed contaminants because of its frequent occurrence in toxicologically relevant concentrations worldwide. Cereal crops, the main component of chicken diet, are commonly contaminated with DON, resulting in frequent exposure of chickens to DON. Likewise, Campylobacter (C.), a pathogen of major public and animal health concern, is frequently found in chicken flocks and poses a threat to the One Health approach. Campylobacter colonizes the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of poultry with a high bacterial load in the caeca. However, the mechanism of C. jejuni colonization in chickens is still not understood albeit it is well known that C. jejuni resides primarily in the mucosal layer of the chicken intestine. Therefore, in the actual study we focused on the effect of exposure to DON and/or C. jejuni on expression profiles of intestinal mucins (MUC1, MUC2), β-defensins (Gallinacin (GAL) 10, 12), cytokines (Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), Interleukin (IL) 6, 8, Interferon-γ (IFN)-γ), inducible nitric oxide synthase 2 (iNOS2), as well as selected tight junction proteins (Claudin 5 (CLDN5), Occludin (OCLN), and zonula occludens-1 (ZO1) via RT-qPCR. For this, a total of 150 one-day-old Ross 308 broiler chickens were randomly allocated to six different groups (n = 25 with 5 replicates/group) and were fed for 5 weeks with either contaminated diets (5 or 10 mg DON/kg feed) or basal diets (control). Following oral infection of birds with C. jejuni NCTC 12744 at 14 days of age, several changes in gene expression patterns were demonstrated. A significant (P ≤ 0.05) downregulation of MUC2 mRNA expression was observed in birds fed DON5 and DON10 diet, as well as in birds co-exposed to DON5 and C. jejuni at 7 dpi. Furthermore, at 14 dpi, MUC2 mRNA expression was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) downregulated in birds fed DON (5 mg and 10 mg/kg diet) with and without C. jejuni and in birds infected solely with C. jejuni. The actual study also demonstrated that co-exposure of broiler chickens to DON and C. jejuni resulted in a decreased barrier function via downregulation of OCLD mRNA expression. In addition, Campylobacter infection induced an increased expression of the antimicrobial peptide GAL12 and the IL8 gene, indicating that C. jejuni can initiate an immune response in the chicken gut in a proinflammatory manner. Similarly, DON with and without C. jejuni induced upregulation of GAL10 and GAL12 mRNA expression at 7 dpi. Moreover, no change in iNOS2 mRNA expression was observed in both the jejunum and the cecum at either 7 dpi or 14 dpi, suggesting unchanged NO production during exposure/infection. In conclusion, we confirmed that DON contamination corresponding to the currently applicable EU guidance value of 5 mg DON/kg feed affects the intestinal gene expression profiles of broilers, mainly in a dose-independent manner. Furthermore, DON exposure interacted synergistically with C. jejuni challenge regarding mucins, innate immunity gene expression in either the jejunum or the cecum, suggesting immunomodulatory activity of both foodborne agents (DON and C. jejuni).
霉菌毒素脱氧雪腐镰刀菌烯醇(DON)在饲料污染物中具有高度重要性,因为它在全球范围内经常以毒理学相关浓度出现。谷物作物是鸡日粮的主要成分,通常受到DON污染,导致鸡频繁接触DON。同样,弯曲杆菌(C.)是主要的公共卫生和动物健康关注的病原体,经常在鸡群中发现,并对“同一健康”方法构成威胁。弯曲杆菌在盲肠中以高细菌载量定殖于家禽的胃肠道(GI)。然而,尽管已知空肠弯曲杆菌主要存在于鸡肠道的粘膜层中,但空肠弯曲杆菌在鸡体内定殖的机制仍不清楚。因此,在实际研究中,我们通过实时定量聚合酶链反应(RT-qPCR),重点研究了暴露于DON和/或空肠弯曲杆菌对肠道粘蛋白(MUC1、MUC2)、β-防御素(Gallinacin(GAL)10、12)、细胞因子(Toll样受体2(TLR2)、白细胞介素(IL)6、8、干扰素-γ(IFN)-γ)、诱导型一氧化氮合酶2(iNOS2)以及选定的紧密连接蛋白(Claudin 5(CLDN5)、闭合蛋白(OCLN)和紧密连接蛋白-1(ZO1))表达谱的影响。为此,总共150只1日龄的罗斯308肉鸡被随机分配到六个不同的组(n = 25,每组5个重复),并分别用受污染的日粮(5或10 mg DON/kg饲料)或基础日粮(对照)喂养5周。在14日龄时用空肠弯曲杆菌NCTC 12744口服感染鸡后,证明了基因表达模式的若干变化。在7日龄时,喂食DON5和DON10日粮的鸡以及同时暴露于DON5和空肠弯曲杆菌的鸡中,观察到MUC2 mRNA表达显著(P≤0.05)下调。此外,在14日龄时,喂食含或不含空肠弯曲杆菌的DON(5 mg和10 mg/kg日粮)的鸡以及仅感染空肠弯曲杆菌的鸡中,MUC2 mRNA表达显著(P≤0.05)下调。实际研究还表明,肉鸡同时暴露于DON和空肠弯曲杆菌会通过下调OCLD mRNA表达导致屏障功能降低。此外,弯曲杆菌感染诱导抗菌肽GAL12和IL8基因表达增加,表明空肠弯曲杆菌可以以促炎方式在鸡肠道中引发免疫反应。同样,含或不含空肠弯曲杆菌的DON在7日龄时诱导GAL10和GAL12 mRNA表达上调。此外,在7日龄或14日龄时,空肠和盲肠中的iNOS2 mRNA表达均未观察到变化,表明在暴露/感染期间一氧化氮(NO)产生未改变。总之,我们证实,对应于目前适用的欧盟指导值5 mg DON/kg饲料的DON污染会影响肉鸡的肠道基因表达谱,主要是以剂量非依赖性方式。此外,在粘蛋白、空肠或盲肠中的固有免疫基因表达方面,DON暴露与空肠弯曲杆菌挑战具有协同作用,表明这两种食源性病原体(DON和空肠弯曲杆菌)均具有免疫调节活性。