Effect of Cymbopogon martini (Roxb.) Will.Watson essential oil on antioxidant activity, immune and intestinal barrier-related function, and gut microbiota in pigeons infected by Candida albicans

Essential oils are potential alternatives to antibiotics for preventing albicans (C. albicans) infection which is responsible for economic losses in the pigeon industry. essential oil (EO) can inhibit pathogens, particularly fungal pathogens but its potential beneficial effects on -infected pigeons remain unclear. Therefore, we investigated the impact of . EO on antioxidant activity, immune response, intestinal barrier function, and intestinal microbiota in -infected pigeons. The pigeons were divided into four groups as follows: (1) NC group: uninfected/ . EO untreated group; (2) PC group: infected/ . EO untreated group; (3) LPA group: infected/1% . EO treated group; and (4) HPA group: infected/2% . EO treated group. The pigeons were infected with from day of age 35 to 41 and treated with . EO from day of age 42 to 44, with samples collected on day of age 45 for analysis. The results demonstrated that . EO prevented the reduction in the antioxidant enzymes SOD and GSH-Px causes by challenge in pigeons. Furthermore, . EO could decrease the relative expression of , , and in the ileum, as well as and in the crop, while increasing the relative expression of in the ileum and the crop and in the ileum in infected pigeons. Although the gut microbiota composition was not significantly affected by . EO, 2% . EO increased the abundance of and . In conclusion, the application of 2% . EO not only enhanced the level of antioxidant activity and the expression of genes related to intestinal barrier function but also inhibited inflammatory genes in -infected pigeons and increased the abundance of gut bacteria that are resistant to .