Publication
Authors
Yosra A. Helmy, former Research Scientist, Center for Food Animal Health, Department of Animal Sciences (ANSCI)
Dipak Kathayat, former Graduate Student, Center for Food Animal Health, ANSCI
Loic Deblais, Postdoc, Center for Food Animal Health, ANSCI
Vishal Srivastava, former Postdoc, Center for Food Animal Health, ANSCI
Gary Closs Jr., former PhD Student, Department of Food Science and Technology (FST)
Robert J. Tokarski II, former PhD student, College of Pharmacy
Oluwatosin Ayinde, PhD Student, College of Pharmacy
James R. Fuchs, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, College of Pharmacy
Gireesh Rajashekara, Professor, Center for Food Animal Health, ANSCI
Quick Take
A better treatment for a zoonotic pathogen that affects poultry like chickens, turkeys, and ducks may now be within reach. Avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) can impact how much weight they gain, how efficiently they process their food, and how many eggs they lay. In some cases, APEC can also kill them. Thus, the disease can have significant negative economic impacts. Annual losses due to unacceptable carcass quality in the United States have been estimated at nearly $40 million. The disease can also be transmitted to humans if they eat contaminated poultry or fresh produce that was fertilized with tainted manure.
APEC is currently controlled with vaccines and antibiotics, but the pathogen is becoming resistant to some of these methods. CFAES researchers tested a new treatment for APEC that hinders cell communication inside of pathogenic bacteria. They gave chickens different types of inhibitors and examined effects on their health and the severity of the disease.
Results
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The study showed that this new treatment method, specifically the inhibitors QSI-5 and QSI-10, worked better than current antibiotics.
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The inhibitor treatment reduced chicken deaths, reduced disease load in each animal, and made the lesions caused by APEC less severe. It also increased weight gain and didn’t leave any residue in edible tissues that humans might consume.
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CFAES researchers found that the inhibitors also did not negatively impact the chickens’ gut microbiome communities the way other treatments—like antibiotics—might.
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Evaluating the effects of inhibitors on production animals could help scientists develop the same types of treatments for human E. coli diseases, which are related to APEC.
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In future trials, researchers want to test the treatment in field-simulated conditions and better understand the biological mechanisms of the inhibitors.
Citation
Helmy, Y.A., Kathayat, D., Deblais, L., Srivastava, V., Closs Jr., G., Tokarski II, R.J., Ayinde, O., Fuchs, J.R., Rajashekara, G. “Evaluation of Novel Quorum Sensing Inhibitors Targeting Auto-Inducer 2 (AI-2) for the Control of Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli Infections in Chickens.” Microbiology Spectrum, May 2022, Volume 10, No. 2, https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.00286-22