Anticoccidial and Antioxidant Activities of Moringa oleifera Leaf Extract on Murine Intestinal Eimeriosis

Background Coccidiosis is an intestinal disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Eimeria and responsible for considerable economic loss in the livestock and poultry industries. Resistance to the current anticoccidial drugs is now a major challenge to efforts to control the disease, and this has stimulated the search for new compounds as alternative treatments. In this context, plant extracts have emerged as an alternative and complementary approach to control coccidiosis. In the present study, an ethanol extract of Moringa oleifera leaves was screened for its anticoccidial activity against Eimeria papillata infection in mice. Methods To this end, albino mice were allocated into three groups: the first group was the non-infected control; the second and third groups were infected with 10(3)E. papillata oocysts. Of these, the second group was kept as an infected control; while the third group was gavaged with 100 mu l of moringa leaf extract (MLE) at a dose of 400 mg MLE/kg, once daily, for five days. Results MLE significantly suppressed oocyst excretion in faeces, and histological study of the jejunum showed a significant decrease in the number of parasitic stages, with significant improvement in the numbers of goblet cells. Furthermore, the expression of MUC2 gene was upregulated in the treated mice compared with infected, which further supports the anticoccidial potential of MLE. Moreover, our study evidenced that MLE reduced oxidative damage by decreasing TBARS and iNOS expression, and increasing the GSH and GPX levels. Also, treatment with MLE promoted the expression of Bcl-2 and ultimately, inhibited the apoptosis of host cells in the treated mice. Conclusion Our data indicate that MLE has anticoccidial, anti-oxidant and anti-apoptotic activities in mice infected with Eimeria papillata.