{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]],"date-time":"2026-04-09T04:49:52Z","timestamp":1775710192295,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]],"date-time":"2026-04-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1775692800000},"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>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Calf diarrhea caused by\n                      <jats:italic>Escherichia coli<\/jats:italic>\n                      poses severe economic burdens to the cattle industry, and antibiotic overuse has triggered drug resistance and residue risks. This study screened 10 plant extracts for antibacterial activity against a clinically isolated calf diarrhea-causing\n                      <jats:italic>E. coli<\/jats:italic>\n                      strain\n                      <jats:italic>in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                      , and investigated the protective effects of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)\u2014the most effective extract\u2014on\n                      <jats:italic>E. coli<\/jats:italic>\n                      -infected mice.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Antimicrobial susceptibility was assessed by disk diffusion, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) assays.\n                      <jats:italic>In vivo<\/jats:italic>\n                      , mice were intraperitoneally challenged with\n                      <jats:italic>E. coli<\/jats:italic>\n                      and treated with 50 mg\/kg or 100 mg\/kg EGCG. Bacterial loads in liver and small intestine were quantified, intestinal pathology was evaluated by HE staining, and expression of tight junction proteins (ZO-1, Occludin, Claudin-1) was analyzed by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      EGCG exhibited the largest inhibition zone (19.7 \u00b1 0.3 mm) against the pathogen, with an MIC of 3.125 mg\/mL and MBC of 50 mg\/mL.\n                      <jats:italic>In vivo<\/jats:italic>\n                      , both 50 mg\/kg and 100 mg\/kg EGCG significantly reduced bacterial loads in the liver and small intestine of infected mice, alleviated small intestinal pathological damage, and the 100 mg\/kg EGCG group showed markedly upregulated expression of ZO-1, Occludin, and Claudin-1 in the small intestine (\n                      <jats:italic>p\u202f&amp;lt;<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f0.05).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Our findings confirm that EGCG exerts potent\n                      <jats:italic>in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                      antibacterial effects against calf diarrhea-causing\n                      <jats:italic>E. coli<\/jats:italic>\n                      and protects against\n                      <jats:italic>E. coli<\/jats:italic>\n                      -induced small intestinal injury in mice, highlighting its potential as a natural antibiotic alternative for controlling colibacillary diarrhea in calves.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  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Environment, Yichun University","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]},{"name":"Yichun University Research Center for Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine and Animal Embryo Engineering Technology","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wenya","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science and Resources and Environment, Yichun University","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]},{"name":"Yichun University Research Center for Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine and Animal Embryo Engineering Technology","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ben","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science and Resources and Environment, Yichun University","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]},{"name":"Yichun University Research Center for Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine and Animal Embryo Engineering Technology","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zerui","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science and Resources and Environment, Yichun University","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]},{"name":"Yichun University Research Center for Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine and Animal Embryo Engineering Technology","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xunhao","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science and Resources and Environment, Yichun University","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]},{"name":"Yichun University Research Center for Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine and Animal Embryo Engineering Technology","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lisen","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science and Resources and Environment, Yichun University","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]},{"name":"Yichun University Research Center for Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine and Animal Embryo Engineering Technology","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Songlin","family":"Ding","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science and Resources and Environment, Yichun University","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]},{"name":"Yichun University Research Center for Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine and Animal Embryo Engineering Technology","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science and Resources and Environment, Yichun University","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]},{"name":"Yichun University Research Center for Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine and Animal Embryo Engineering Technology","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lucheng","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science and Resources and Environment, Yichun University","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]},{"name":"Yichun University Research Center for Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine and Animal Embryo Engineering Technology","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Qingcan","family":"Fan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science and Resources and Environment, Yichun University","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]},{"name":"Yichun University Research Center for Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine and Animal Embryo Engineering Technology","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hailong","family":"Hong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science and Resources and Environment, Yichun University","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]},{"name":"Yichun University Research Center for Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine and Animal Embryo Engineering Technology","place":["Yichun, Jiangxi, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"108","DOI":"10.3390\/vetsci11030108","article-title":"Neonatal calf diarrhea and gastrointestinal microbiota: etiologic agents and microbiota manipulation for treatment and prevention of diarrhea","volume":"11","author":"Jessop","year":"2024","journal-title":"Vet 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