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Efficacy of phytogenic formulation (Animunin) for the management of respiratory viral infections in poultry birds

Alternate Strategies for management of viral respiratory diseases

There is resurgence of interest towards use of phytogenics as an alternative to conventional treatment of various viral diseases (Awadet all., 2019). Viral respiratory outbreaks have brought serious economic losses to the poultry industry that result from the decline of weight gain, decreased egg production, eggshell quality, feed efficiency, false layers, and secondary bacterial infections (Cavanagh, 2007). At present, vaccination is still the major efficient measure to prevent and control the disease. Some plant extracts, including Mentha piperita, Thymus vulgaris, Desmodium canadense extracts Lelesius, 2019, Astragalus polysaccharides Zhang 2018 Glycyrrhiza radix [Li et al., 2009], and Forsythia suspensa (Li et al., 2011) have shown effectiveness against IBV, ILT, NDV in vitro. Garlic extract successfully inhibited IBV in the replication phase in chicken embryos (Tabassom et al., 2016).

Animunin - Natural Antiseptic and Respiratory Tonic

Animunin is a phytogenic formulation by M/S Indian Herbs, India, consisting of principal phyto-bioactives such as thymol, cineole, eucalyptol, and other essential oils with antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties. It protects the poultry respiratory system from infections and maintains its functioning naturally.

Researchers have reported the antiviral efficacy of Animunin (Gangwar et al., 2022) against NDV and IBDV. A study conducted at the Department of Veterinary Pathology, College of Veterinary Science & AH, DUVASU, evaluated the antiviral and anti-inflammatory potential of Animunin. The study used real-time polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR) to measure the differential expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL1ß, TNFα, and oxidative genes SOD and Catalase in chicken embryo fibroblast culture (CEF). Animunin was diluted to five concentrations (2.5, 5.0, 10.0, 15.0, 20.0 mg/ml) and 100 µl was added to each well of 96-well culture plates containing CEF cells. CEF cells in one group were kept as negative control. The cytopathic effect (CPE) was determined, and the maximum concentration that caused no toxicity (TC₀) was observed to be 10 mg/ml.

Researchers (Neeraj Gangwar¹, Ajay Singh², Soumen Choudhary, DUVASU, Mathura) reported that the cytopathic effect (CPE) was much pronounced (rounding of cells, granulation, and separation) in IBD and IBDV virus-infected cell lines. Animunin-treated cell lines exhibited a significant reduction in cytopathic effects.

Relative quantification of genes related to inflammation and oxidative stress (IL-1ß, TNF-α, SOD, Catalase) revealed that IL-1ß and TNF-α are highly upregulated in positive/virus-infected control cell lines; however, normalization of genes was evident in Animunin-treated cell lines. SOD and Catalase activity is highly upregulated in Animunin-treated cell lines compared to virus-infected cell lines. The novel findings of the study are presented and published in IPSF, 2022, and study investigators concluded that Animunin has antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulating properties (P240, IPSF, 2022).

Summary

Animunin is a natural substitute and alternate to conventional antibiotic therapy for management of respiratory diseases. A group of researchers reported efficacy of Animunin to inhibit virus multiplication and promoting immune function. Many other researchers in previous conducted studies reported efficacy of Animunin to protect the poultry respiratory system from infections by maintaining respiratory functioning in a natural way. Animunin is a unique combination of phyto-bioactives and essential oils viz. thymol, cineole, eucalyptol, curcumin that exhibit strong antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal and anti-allergic activities. Animunin is recommended for both prevention and therapeutics of respiratory mycoplasmal, bacterial, viral infections. Animunin is a safe, highly effective, resistance and residue free, cost-effective option for management of respiratory infections in poultry birds.