Attenuation of pathogenesis of Eimeria stiedae sporulated oocysts using Egyptian alginate propolis nanoparticles

BACKGROUND: Coccidiosis is a costly and widespread infectious disease that affects mammals and causes huge losses for the global rabbit meat industry. This study evaluated the potency of Egyptian alginate propolis nanoparticles (NPs) in attenuating the infectivity of Eimeria stiedae sporulated oocysts. The gelification method was used to prepare alginate propolis NPs, which were then characterized using a transmission electron microscope and zeta potential analysis. RESULTS: The results revealed that the zeta potential of the prepared alginate propolis NPs increased from − 60.60 ± 9.10 mV to –72.26 ± 6.04 mV. The sporulated oocysts were treated with 50 mg/mL of the alginate propolis NPs. Thereafter, the treated oocysts were tested for their ability to infect rabbits. The rabbits were divided into three groups: the healthy control (G1) group, the infected control (G2) group, and the treated oocyst-infected (G3) group. The rabbits were sacrificed 43 days post-infection (dpi). The infectivity of the oocysts was assessed. The treated oocyst-infected rabbits exhibited slight abdominal distension and dullness symptoms. The G3 group had no oocyst output, with a 100% reduction from 41 dpi until the end of the experiment. Immunologically, the IgG level of the G2 group gradually increased (p ≤ 0.05) much more than that of the G3 group. The IL-12 level in the G3 group significantly increased from 16 dpi until the end of the experiment, nearly reaching the level in healthy animals. Decreased CD4(+) and CD8(+) immunolabelling was observed in the liver sections of the group infected with the alginate propolis NP-treated oocysts, and there was a remarkable improvement in the histopathological parameters. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that Alg propolis NPs are sufficient to reduce the infectivity of E. stiedae oocysts.