The synergy effect of matrine and berberine hydrochloride on treating colibacillosis caused by an avian highly pathogenic multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli

作者：Jinwu Meng, Weiran Wang, Jinxue Ding, Bolin Gu, Fanting Zhou, Desheng Wu, Xiang Fu, Mingyu Qiao, Jiaguo Liu · 发表于：Poultry Science · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1016/j.psj.2024.104151 · 被引用次数：26 · 研究领域：Bioactive natural compounds、Berberine and alkaloids research、Natural product bioactivities and synthesis

Infection by multidrug-resistant avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) in chickens always leads to the uselessness of antibiotics, highlighting the need for alternative antibacterial agents. Sophora flavescens and Coptis chinensis have been a classical combination used together in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) formulas to treat diseases with similar symptoms to colibacillosis for an extended period, but the effect of their active ingredients' combination on APEC infection remains unstudied. The objective of this study was to explore the synergistic effect of matrine and berberine hydrochloride on colibacillosis caused by an isolated multidrug-resistant APEC. In this study, a highly pathogenic E. coli was isolated from the liver of a diseased chicken in a farm suspected of colibacillosis, and it was resistant to multiple antibiotics. The LD50 of the strain was approximately 3.759×108 CFU/mL. The strain harbored several antibiotic resistance genes and virulence genes. Matrine and berberine hydrochloride have synergistic antibacterial effect against the isolated strain in vitro. The combined use of matrine and berberine hydrochloride exhibited synergistic effects in the treatment of APEC infection by regulating the organ indices, improving the pathological situation, decreasing the bacterial load, and regulating the inflammatory factors to enhance the survival rate of chickens in vivo. These results provided a foundation for revealing the effective effects and possible m...