{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T03:52:56Z","timestamp":1777953176407,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777852800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100020818","name":"Hebei Dairy Cattle Innovation Team of Modern Agro-industry Technology Research System","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100020818","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    <jats:italic>Escherichia coli<\/jats:italic>\n                    enteritis causes substantial economic losses in animal husbandry, while antibiotic treatments face challenges of resistance and residue. This study investigated earthworm hydrolysate (EH) as a potential antibiotic alternative.\n                    <jats:italic>In vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                    assays demonstrated potent antibacterial activity of EH against\n                    <jats:italic>E. coli<\/jats:italic>\n                    , with an inhibition zone diameter of 12.24 \u00b1 0.45 mm, a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 375 \u03bcg\/mL, and a minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 750 \u03bcg\/mL. An\n                    <jats:italic>in vivo<\/jats:italic>\n                    enteritis model was established via intraperitoneal injection of\n                    <jats:italic>E. coli<\/jats:italic>\n                    (1 \u00d7 10\n                    <jats:sup>7<\/jats:sup>\n                    CFU\/mL). Three-day EH treatment effectively alleviated intestinal injury, improved mucosal architecture (increased villus height\/crypt depth ratio), and upregulated tight junction protein (ZO-1, Occludin, Claudin-1) expression. Mechanistically, EH downregulated the levels and expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-\u03b1, IL-6, IL-2) and inhibited the activation of the MAPK signaling pathway (reduced p-p38, p-JNK, and p-ERK). Furthermore, EH modulated gut microbiota composition, increasing the Firmicutes\/Bacteroidetes ratio and beneficial genera (Bacteroides, Lactobacillus), while reducing Proteobacteria and pathogenic genera (Helicobacter, Desulfovibrio). In conclusion, EH exerts therapeutic effects against\n                    <jats:italic>E. coli<\/jats:italic>\n                    enteritis through multi-target mechanisms involving antibacterial action, MAPK-mediated anti-inflammatory activity, intestinal barrier restoration, and microbiota modulation, offering a promising antibiotics alternative for managing intestinal infections.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2026.1810555","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T14:25:48Z","timestamp":1777904748000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["EartEarthworm hydrolysate alleviates Escherichia coli-induced enteritis by suppressing MAPK pathway activation, enhancing intestinal barrier integrity, and modulating gut microbiota"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Jungang","family":"Kang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, Hebei Agricultural University","place":["Baoding, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sijia","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yang","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, Hebei Agricultural University","place":["Baoding, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jinyan","family":"Zuo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, Hebei Agricultural University","place":["Baoding, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Qing","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, Hebei Agricultural University","place":["Baoding, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Weifeng","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, Hebei Agricultural University","place":["Baoding, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Guojun","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, Hebei Agricultural University","place":["Baoding, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"61959","DOI":"10.1007\/s11356-024-35358-4","article-title":"Earthworm activity reduces bacterial pathogen loads in sewage sludge.","volume":"31","author":"Aira","year":"2024","journal-title":"Environ. 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