{
  "abstract": "Background: Coccidiosis, caused by seven valid species of Eimeria, poses a significant challenge to the poultry industry. There is a growing interest in natural feed additives to mitigate the detrimental effects of coccidial infections in poultry farming. This study investigates the comparative effects of ionophore antibiotics (salinomycin and monensin) and phytochemical (thymol) on growth performance, intestinal morphology, and mucosal cytokine response in broilers challenged with sporulated oocysts of multiple Eimeria species at 21 day of age of birds. A total of 225 one-day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to five groups, group (G) A (untreated unchallenged; (Negative control); G B (untreated challenged; (Positive control), G C, D and E; three challenged groups, each of which are supplemented with salinomycin, monensin and thymol respectively. Performance parameters, oocyst per gram (OPG), cytokine expression (interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) and histopathological assessments were conducted on days 21(0 day post infection(dpi)), 28 (7 dpi), and 42 (21 dpi).\n\nResults: The PC group exhibited high mortality (15.56%) and the highest OPG counts at 14 and 21 dpi, while thymol supplementation resulted in a slower decline in OPG counts at 14 dpi but showed significant reduction by 21 dpi. These findings indicate that, although thymol was less potent than ionophore anticoccidials under the conditions tested but beneficial as a non-chemical alternative molecule for coccidiosis management. Salinomycin and monensin groups had zero OPG counts at both time points. Significant differences in feed intake and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were observed, with salinomycin demonstrating better FCR performance than monensin and thymol. At 7-dpi (28 days of age), the positive control group exhibited marked upregulation of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-6 in both the jejunum and spleen compared with the negative control. In contrast, all anticoccidial-treated groups showed significantly reduced cytokine expression. Among the treatments, thymol supplementation resulted in the lowest jejunal IL-1β expression, whereas salinomycin and monensin produced comparable suppression of IL-6 expression in both tissues. At 21-dpi, cytokine expression in all treated groups had returned close to basal levels, indicating effective resolution of inflammation. Histopathological examination further demonstrated that salinomycin and monensin markedly reduced intestinal lesions and parasitic developmental stages, whereas thymol improved intestinal architecture by reducing inflammatory cell infiltration.\n\nConclusion: These results indicate that salinomycin and monensin exhibited superior anticoccidial efficacy by effectively reducing oocyst shedding, preserving intestinal histopathology, and attenuating inflammatory cytokine expression, whereas thymol exerted beneficial immunomodulatory and histopathological effects with comparatively lower anticoccidial efficacy, highlighting its potential as a natural alternative to commercial anticoccidials.\n\nSupplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-026-05794-0.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Nagpur Veterinary College, Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University, Nagpur, 440006 India",
    "Department of Veterinary Parasitology, Nagpur Veterinary College, MAFSU, Nagpur, 440006 India",
    "ICAR-National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management, Baramati, Pune, 413115 India",
    "Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Hisar, Haryana 125004 India"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Pratik G Kokate"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Suresh Gulabrao Jadhao"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Pranav P Deshmukh"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Sunil W Kolte"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Mahesh Gupta"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Shubham P Mandhale"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mukund M Kadam"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Sonali D Borkar"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Snehil Gupta"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0ehzmnjyyr2ys.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1186/s12917-026-05794-0",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13733107/",
  "id": "0ehzmnjyyr2ys",
  "issns": [
    "1746-6148"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-026-05794-0",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1103|Coccidia and coccidiosis research"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7197024678",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13733107",
  "pmid": "42983793",
  "published": "2026-08-06",
  "publisher": "BMC",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0ehzmnjyyr2ys.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-08T12:22:58Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13733107",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-026-05794-0"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:1103|Coccidia and coccidiosis research",
      "subfield": "zoology-behaviour"
    }
  ],
  "title": "The comparative effect of ionophore and thymol on growth performance, intestinal histopatholgy and cytokine expression in broilers challenged with mixed Eimeria species",
  "title_text": "The comparative effect of ionophore and thymol on growth performance, intestinal histopatholgy and cytokine expression in broilers challenged with mixed Eimeria species",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T12:22:58Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0ehzmnjyyr2ys",
  "venue": "BMC Veterinary Research",
  "versions": []
}