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Animals
Special Issues
Livestock Parasites: Impact on Animal Production and Food Security
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Livestock Parasites: Impact on Animal Production and Food Security

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 7158

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Robert W. Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
Interests: animal; livestock; parasite; helminth; drug resistance; climate change; ruminants; therapeutics; vaccines; alternative parasite control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Parasites, particularly those from the phyla Apicomplexa and Nematoda, are extremely important to agriculture and animal wellbeing. Many parasite species are deleterious to human and animal health and agricultural efficiency. Approximately 70% of production animals in developing countries are estimated to experience severe parasite transmission. In ruminants, parasitic infections result in a liveweight reduction up to 14% and milk yield reduction up to 2.2 kg milk/cow per day. Parasitism is not just a disease affecting productivity, but also a leading cause of mortality in young animals. The annual losses of crop yield due to parasitic nematodes are approximately 12% of the total, over USD 100 billion. As a result, parasitism represents one of the key factors threatening global food availability. Many animal parasites are also zoonotic, constituting an additional burden on human health. Furthermore, the rapid emergence and spread of drug resistant parasite strains are alarming. 

This Special Issue intends to showcase the most recent advances in livestock parasitology. The term livestock here refers to all domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce labor and commodities, including ruminants (cattle, sheep, and goats), swine, horses, poultry, and fish. Studies on all aspects of parasitology and parasite biology will be considered, including but not limited to:

  • Biodiversity, life cycles, morphology and biometrics, and taxonomy/systematics of parasites in the broad range of host (livestock) species;
  • Understanding host–parasite interactions using multidisciplinary approaches, such as immunology, genomics and genetics, metagenomics and microbiome studies, cell and molecular biology, pathology, etc.;
  • Mechanisms of anthelmintic or drug resistance;
  • Theories and methods on modeling parasite distribution shifts in the context of climate changes;
  • Wild animals and rodent models to examine host–parasite relationships relevant to livestock species;
  • Novel therapeutics, alternative parasite control strategies, and vaccines.

We invite review and original manuscripts as well as brief communications and case reports.  Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline and will be peer-reviewed as they are received. Accepted papers will be published online continuously. All papers from this Special Issue will also be published as an e-book or printed book.

Dr. Robert W. Li
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • animal
  • livestock
  • parasite
  • helminth
  • drug resistance
  • climate change
  • ruminants
  • therapeutics
  • vaccines
  • alternative parasite control

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3167 KiB  
Article
C3a/C3aR Affects the Propagation of Cryptosporidium parvum in the Ileum Tissues of Mice by Regulating the Gut Barrier, Cell Proliferation, and CD4+ T Cell Main Effectors
by Xin Yang, Xuemei Wu, Shuang Huang, Qian Yao, Xi Chen, Junke Song, Yingying Fan and Guanghui Zhao
Animals 2023, 13(5), 837; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13050837 - 24 Feb 2023
Viewed by 1253
Abstract
Cryptosporidium parvum is an important zoonotic protozoon that threatens the health of humans and animals, but the interaction mechanisms between C. parvum and hosts are poorly understood. Our previous study indicated that the expression levels of C3a and C3aR were up-regulated in mice [...] Read more.
Cryptosporidium parvum is an important zoonotic protozoon that threatens the health of humans and animals, but the interaction mechanisms between C. parvum and hosts are poorly understood. Our previous study indicated that the expression levels of C3a and C3aR were up-regulated in mice during C. parvum infection, but the mechanisms of C3a/C3aR signaling during C. parvum infection have not been elucidated. In the present study, an optimized BALB/c suckling mouse model infected with C. parvum was used to explore the function of C3a/C3aR signaling during C. parvum infection. The expression levels of C3aR in the ileum tissues of mice infected with C. parvum were analyzed using real-time PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry. The mRNA levels of the Cryptosporidium 18S rRNA gene, tight junction proteins (zo-1, claudin 3, and occludin), intestinal stem cell marker lgr5, cell proliferation marker ki67, Th1 cell-related cytokine ifn-γ, and Treg cell-related cytokine tgf-β in mouse ileum tissues were analyzed by real-time PCR. The pathological injury of ileal mucosa was examined by histopathology analysis. The mRNA expression levels of Cryptosporidium 18S rRNA gene were significantly up-regulated in the ileum tissues of C3aR-inhibited mice during C. parvum infection. Meanwhile, histopathology analysis of ileal mucosa in mice showed that inhibition of C3aR significantly aggravated the changes in villus length, villus diameter, mucosal thickness and the ratio of villus length to crypt depth during C. parvum infection. Further studies found inhibition of C3aR aggravated the down-regulation of occludin at most time points during C. parvum infection. The mRNA levels of ki67 and lgr5 in the ileum tissues of mice infected with C. parvum were significantly down-regulated. Inhibition of C3aR significantly down-regulated the mRNA expression levels of lgr5 at most time points, but significantly up-regulated the mRNA expression levels of ki67 at most time points. The mRNA expression levels of ifn-γ and tgf-β were significantly up-regulated and down-regulated in the ileum tissues of mice infected with C. parvum, respectively. However, inhibition of C3aR significantly increased the mRNA expression levels of ifn-γ and tgf-β in the ileum tissues of mice infected with C. parvum. Taken together, C3a/C3aR signaling could possibly affect the propagation of C. parvum in mouse ileum tissues by regulating the gut barrier, cell proliferation and CD4+ T cell main effectors, which would contribute to our understanding of the interaction between Cryptosporidium and hosts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Livestock Parasites: Impact on Animal Production and Food Security)
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13 pages, 1115 KiB  
Article
Inclusion of Sainfoin in the Diet Might Alter Strongyle Infection in Naturally Infected Horses
by Pauline Grimm, Noémie Laroche, Samy Julliand and Gabriele Sorci
Animals 2022, 12(8), 955; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12080955 - 7 Apr 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2031
Abstract
It is increasingly difficult to control equine strongyles with synthetic drugs, as resistance is commonly observed. Here, we investigated the possible anthelmintic effect of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia), a polyphenol-rich legume, in naturally infected horses. On Day 0 (D0), 17 horses were [...] Read more.
It is increasingly difficult to control equine strongyles with synthetic drugs, as resistance is commonly observed. Here, we investigated the possible anthelmintic effect of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia), a polyphenol-rich legume, in naturally infected horses. On Day 0 (D0), 17 horses were allocated to three different homogenous groups in terms of fecal egg count (FEC): the control group (CONT) received a diet composed on a DM basis of 83% hay and 17% wheat bran, while in the sainfoin 1 (SF1) and sainfoin 2 (SF2) groups, half or all wheat bran, respectively, was replaced by dehydrated sainfoin pellets. The infection dynamics were monitored by weekly FEC, from D0 to D84. On D28, all horses were treated with fenbendazole. Larval motility was assessed from coprocultures at D0, D28, D56 and D84. Horses in Group SF2 had lower FEC from D7 to D28. After fenbendazole treatment, no effect of the diet was measured on FEC. Both before and after anthelmintic treatment, larvae from horses consuming sainfoin were less motile than larvae from the CONT group. These results suggest that sainfoin has an in vivo anthelmintic activity in naturally infected horses, although this effect appears to be context-dependent. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Livestock Parasites: Impact on Animal Production and Food Security)
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