Effect Of Echinacea Purpurea Extract And Astragalus Extract On Immunological Response To Infectious Bursal Disease Vaccine

This study was carried out to investigate the immuno-modulatory effects of Echinacea purpurea and astragalus on broilers challenged with IBD(infectious bursal disease)vaccine,and the effect on the performance of broilers.In this experiment the contents of the IBDV antibody,IL-2 and TNF-αin the peripheral blood were detected by ELISA,and the CD4 +,CD8 + T lymphocytes by flow cytometry after the broiler were orally administrated with the extracts of Echinacea purpurea and Astragalus to study the immune-enhancing effects of Echinacea purpurea and Astragalus.The study was aimed at finding an effective way to improve the immunity of the broilers by various dosages and combinations of the herbs..This study also made sure the effect of Echinacea purpurea and Astragalus on the performance of broiler.On 6-day-old the broilers were randomly selected and divided into 9 groups.GroupsⅠ,ⅡandⅢwere given Echinacea purpurea extracts at low concentration(0.1ml), medium one(0.5ml),and high one(1ml).GroupsⅣ,ⅤandⅥwere given Astragalus extractions at low concentration(0.05ml),medium one(0.25ml),and high one(0.5ml).GroupsⅦ,ⅧandⅨwere given combination of Echinacea purpurea extracts and Astragalus extractions at low concentration (0.1ml+0.05ml),medium one(0.5ml+0.25ml),and high one(1 ml+0.5ml),by free drinking for 7 days, respectively,while groupⅩwas as controlⅠwithout any Echinacea purpurea extracts.GroupsⅠ～Ⅹwere routinely immuned with IBD vaccines at 13-day-old.GroupⅪwas controlⅡwithout any Echinacea purpurea extracts nor vaccine.The antibody of IBDV,IL-2,TNF-αand performance were determined on 13^th,20^th,27^th,34^th,and 41^th,respectively.The immune organs index,such as spleen and thymus,were determined at the different periods.At 13,20,27 days the CD4+,CD8+ in the peripheral blood were detected by flow cytometry.Food intake and body weight gain of the broilers were all recorded day by day.The results showed that Echinacea purpurea extract could significantly promote the development of immune organs,improve the antibody titres to the IBD,IL-2 and TNF-a production.At 13 days the CD4 + and CD8 + content markedly improved in peripheral blood.The extract of Echinacea purpurea had obvious immune enhancement to IBDV and enhanced the production of broilers,the best dosage was 0.5 ml.Astragalus also markedly improved the antibody titres to the IBD,IL-2 and TNF-αproduction.Extracts of the two compatible mixture also have obvious the effect of immune enhancement,which(0.5 ml +0.25 ml)group and(1 ml +0.5 ml)group greatly promoted the the antibody titres of IBD and IL-2 production significantly,especially in the peripheral blood the CD4+ and CD8+ content sustained long time at high level,and(1 ml+0.5 ml) group had the great effort to the performance.From above results we can conclude that Echinacea purpurea is a very great immunoenhancer,also promote significantly the broilers performance.Echinacea purpurea combined with Astragalus surely have stranger immune-enhancing properties and role in promoting production.