Expression of Toll-like receptors and antimicrobial peptides during Eimeria praecox infection in chickens

Abstract Intestinal colonization of avian species by Eimeria parasites results in the enteric disease, coccidiosis. A study was carried out to assess the immunologic effects of Eimeria praecox infection on the gut of infected chickens. In Experiment 1, birds were orally gavaged with 50,000 E . praecox oocysts; in Experiment 2, an infection dosage of 500,000 E. praecox oocysts was used. Duodenal and jejunal intestinal sections were sampled consecutively on days 1–7 post-infection. Intestinal expression of innate immune gene transcripts was analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Analysis of relative gene expression in Experiment 1 revealed an increase ( P P  P  P