Antibacterial and therapeutic effects of a combination of Coptidis rhizoma and Galla rhois extracts in piglets challenged with Campylobacter coli

The antibacterial effects of a combination of Coptidis rhizoma and Galla rhois extracts (CGE) were evaluatedin piglets. The minimum bactericidal concentration of CGE was 2.0 mg/mL. Thirty 5-week-old piglets were challengedwith Campylobacter (C.) coli after allocation to three different groups, a control and two treatment groups fed withCGE at 2.0 or 4.0 g/kg feed for 7 days. On day 7, C. coli in the feces of the CGE-treated groups were significantlylower than in the control (p < 0.01). These results suggest that CGE can be used to control C. coli in piglets. Keywords : Campylobacter coli, Coptidis rhizoma, Galla rhois, piglet Campylobacter spp. are one of the most dominant zoonoticbacteria which cause human gastroenteritis in many develop-ing and industrialized countries [11]. In the European Union,the number of confirmed-campylobacteriosis cases in humanamounted to 220,209 in 2011. In addition, human campylo-bacteriosis in the United States was estimated to affect over1.3 million persons every year [15].Both Campylobacter (C.) jejuni and C. coli asymptomati-cally colonize in the intestinal tract of birds and mammals,including food production animals which pose an importantrisk for human C. infection from contamination of carcassesat slaughter and of milk [12]. Pigs are a natural reservoir ofCampylobacter spp. with C. coli as the dominant species. Theprevalence of C. coli infection in pigs is known to bebetween 50 and 100%, and excretion levels of this pathogenranged from 10