¹Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, PAKISTAN
²Immunoparasitology Laboratory, Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, PAKISTAN
³Department of Microbiology, Govt. College University, Faisalabad, PAKISTAN DOI : 10.9775/kvfd.2018.20232 Present study reports the immunomodulatory and anti-Eimeria effects of hot water and methanolic extracts of Pleurotus (P.) sajor-caju (a locally grown oyster mushroom). Mushrooms were processed to obtain hot water and methanolic extracts followed by lyophilization. The lyophilized extracts were subjected to proximate analysis followed by their evaluation for immunomodulatory and anti-Eimeria activities. Immunomodulatory evaluation of these extracts in industrial broilers revealed significantly higher (P<0.05) cell mediated immunity through lymphoproliferative response to phytohemagglutinin-P as compared to control. These extracts also showed higher humoral immune response through elicited total Ig, IgG, and IgM titers at day 7th and 14th after primary and secondary intramuscular injections of sheep red blood cells. Further, all the groups were orally inoculated with infective dose of sporulated oocysts of Eimeria (E.) species (including E. tenella, E. maxima, E. acervulina and E. necatrix) followed by monitoring of per cent mortality, oocysts per gram of feces (OPG) and intestinal lesion scoring. OPG values in birds of experimental groups administered with mushroom extracts were significantly lower (P<0.05) as compared to those of control group. Control group showed higher mortality ratio and lesions scores as compared to groups administered with extracts. In conclusion, hot water and methanolic extracts of P. sajor-caju showed significant immune boosting activity in broilers and subsequent protective efficacy against Eimeria infection. Keywords : Mushroom extracts, Pleurotus sajor-caju, Eimeria, Immunological, Broiler