Ameliorative effects of four herbs (withania somnifera, tinospora cordifolia, azadirachta indica and e care se herbal) on the pathogenesis of chicken infectious anaemia virus

The present study was conducted to assess the ameliorative effect of four herbal preparations namely Withania somnifera, Tinospora cordifolia, Azadirachta indica and E Care Se Herbal on the pathogenesis of chicken infectious anaemia virus (CIAV) in chicks. Ninety day old specific pathogenic free (SPF) chicks were randomly divided into six groups (A to F) in which the first four groups were fed with W. somnifera (1% pure extract), T. cordifolia (1% pure extract), A. indica (0.2% pure extract) and E Care Se Herbal (0.1% in drinking water), respectively, from the first day. Groups E and F were treated as positive and negative controls respectively. Groups A to E were intra-muscularly on 14th day of age with 40 times of 50% chicken infectious dose (CID50) of CIAV A strain. Chicks of each group were sacrificed on 14th day post infection (DPI), the lymphoid organs collected and ameliorative effects of the four herbal preparations were evaluated by assessing the degree of gross and histopathological changes. The chicks of all the herbal treatment groups showed ameliorative effects as revealed by reduced pathological lesions and changes when compared with the positive virus control group. The herbal preparations evaluated in this study can be recommended for immunomodulatory, prophylactic and therapeutic purposes against CIAV induced immunosuppression so as to reduce mortality and secondary infections associated with this virus.