{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,2]],"date-time":"2025-09-02T04:40:12Z","timestamp":1756788012000,"version":"3.44.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,2]],"date-time":"2025-09-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1756771200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Vet. Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p><jats:italic>Escherichia coli<\/jats:italic> infection causes severe diarrhea, decreases growth performance, and increases mortality of poultry, which imposes a significant economic burden on the poultry industry and severely limits its growth.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Here, to investigate the effects of <jats:italic>Lactobacillus<\/jats:italic> on the intestinal health, immune response, and growth performance of <jats:italic>E. coli<\/jats:italic>-infected goslings, we established a geese model infected with an <jats:italic>Stx2f<\/jats:italic> gene-carrying <jats:italic>E. coli<\/jats:italic> strain and analyzed the probiotic characteristics of three <jats:italic>Lactobacillus<\/jats:italic> isolates obtained from the cecum of healthy geese. In an <jats:italic>in vivo<\/jats:italic> study, Zi geese were administered daily gavage of <jats:italic>L. johnsonii<\/jats:italic> MC006, <jats:italic>L. salivarius<\/jats:italic> MC013, or <jats:italic>L. fermentum<\/jats:italic> MC018 (10<jats:sup>9<\/jats:sup>\u202fCFU\/mL) from 1 d of age for 21 d, followed by treatment with <jats:italic>E. coli<\/jats:italic> XH197291 gavage (10<jats:sup>9<\/jats:sup>\u202fCFU\/mL) on day 8.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The results showed that <jats:italic>E. coli<\/jats:italic> XH197291-infected geese exhibited depression, intestinal damage, reduced average daily gain, increased feed conversion ratio, and 100% diarrhea incidence within 48\u202fh post-infection. Remarkably, among the three <jats:italic>Lactobacillus<\/jats:italic> isolates, <jats:italic>L. fermentum<\/jats:italic> MC018 showed the potential to function as a probiotic because of its ability to resist acid and bile degradation, antibacterial effect, and adhesion property. Notably, oral supplementation containing <jats:italic>L. fermentum<\/jats:italic> MC018 alleviated diarrhea and intestinal histological lesions, reduced <jats:italic>E. coli<\/jats:italic> counts in both ileum and rectum, increased the population of lactic acid bacteria, and improved the growth performance of <jats:italic>E. coli<\/jats:italic>-infected geese. Geese treated with <jats:italic>L. fermentum<\/jats:italic> MC018 gavage had higher serum diamine oxidase (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.01) and IgM (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.05) levels than those in the model group. <jats:italic>L. fermentum<\/jats:italic> MC018 reduced the levels of IL-1\u03b2, IL-6, and TNF-<jats:italic>\u03b1<\/jats:italic> in intestinal tissues following <jats:italic>E. coli<\/jats:italic> infection. Compared to <jats:italic>L. salivarius<\/jats:italic> MC013, <jats:italic>L. fermentum<\/jats:italic> MC018 increased the levels of ZO-1 in the duodenum and Claudin-1 in the ileum.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>These findings suggest that <jats:italic>L. fermentum<\/jats:italic> MC018 is a promising probiotic strain for use as a potential alternative to antibiotics for controlling avian colibacillosis.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fvets.2025.1666985","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,2]],"date-time":"2025-09-02T04:10:33Z","timestamp":1756786233000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Oral supplementation with Lactobacillus fermentum MC018 improves intestinal health, immune response, and growth performance of Zi geese infected with Escherichia coli 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