J Appl Microbiol. 2022;132:3181–3188. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jam | 3181 © 2021 The Society for Applied Microbiology Received: 22 June 2021 | Revised: 1 November 2021 | Accepted: 17 November 2021 DOI: 10.1111/jam.15380 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Immunomodulatory and ameliorative effects of probiotic in combination with diclazuril on broilers under coccidia infection Fareed Uddin Memon 1,2 | Imdad Hussain Leghari 2 | Nasir Rajput 2 | Javaid Ali Gadahi 3 | Jam Zaheer Ahmed Sahito 4 | Yunqiao Yang 1 | Mirza Baber Baig 5 | Farooque Laghari 6 | Hamid Ali Memon 7 | Hongbin Si 1 1 Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, College of Animal Sciences and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, China 2 Department of Poultry Husbandry, Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences, Sindh Agriculture University, Tando Jam, Sindh, Pakistan 3 Department of Veterinary Parasitology, Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences, Sindh Agriculture University, Tando Jam, Sindh, Pakistan 4 State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bio resources, Guangxi University, Nanning, China 5 Collage of Electrical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning, China 6 Department of Animal Production and Environmental Control, Collage of Animal Sciences and Technology, Southeast Agriculture University, Harbin, China 7 Department of Veterinary Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences, Sindh Agriculture University, Tando Jam, Sindh, Pakistan Correspondence Hongbin Si, Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, College of Animal Sciences and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, China. Email: shb2009@gxu.edu.cn Funding information Science and Technology Major Project of Guangxi, Grant/Award Number: AA17204057; Key Research and Development Plan of Guangxi, Grant/ Award Number: AB19245037; Natural National Science Foundation of China, Grant/Award Number: 317607446; the Major R&D Project of Nanning, Grant/ Award Number: 20212138 Abstract Aim: This study aimed to determine the potential prophylactic efficacy of probiotic individually and/or in combination with anti-coccidial drug on the performance and immunity of broilers under an induced coccidial infection over a 28-day of experi- mental trial. Methods: One hundred and eighty 1-day-old Cobb broiler chicks were randomly divided into five groups, included control group (CG), control positive group (CPG), probiotic-treated group (Prob), diclazuril-treated group (Dic), and probi- otic + diclazuril-treated group (Prob + Dic). On day 21 of age, all birds, except group CG, were orally inoculated with 1 ml of tap water containing 25,000 Eimeria tenella sporulated oocysts. Results: Our results showed that the probiotic treatment did not influence pre- challenge body weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratio (FCR). During the post-challenge period, chickens in groups probiotic and diclazuril individually and in combination exhibited higher body weight and lower (better) FCR, reduced oo- cyst shedding (throughout the day four, five, six and seven post-infection), cecal le- sions and mortality compared with control positive chickens. Moreover, Compared to CPG group, Prob + Dic group showed increased (p < 0.05) serum levels of inter- leukin-10 (IL-10) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) and decreased the concentrations of interferon gamma (IFN- γ). On the other hand, individual treatment with probiotic exhibited highest serum levels of IL-10 and IgM, while diclazuril alone increased the Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jambio/article/132/4/3181/6988870 by guest on 19 January 2023