ABSTRACT The classical and the most commonly used approach for the prevention of coccidiosis in chickens is the incorporation of synthetic coccidiostats into their feed during the first weeks of their life. This approach has been challenged by consumers, objecting against residual antimicrobials and drug resistant microorganisms that may contaminate poultry products. Moreover, the coccidiostat application approach has been challenged in the last decade by the emerging regulations in the developed world, targeting the cessation of such a practice. The pressures from the consumers as well as from regulation agencies resulted in a great need for alternative methods to reduce, or completely replace the use of coccidiostats in modern chicken production. This replacement requires seeking for safer products that do not have any negative impact on the consumer's health. Such products are very much in demand, especially in organic poultry farming. The purpose of this review is to present approaches for the replacement of coccidiostat application in chickens through improvements in poultry house management, research in vaccine developments, and application of holistic natural products for the prevention of the economic losses resulting from coccidiosis.

The aim of the present study was to compare healing obtained with biomembranes with the natural healing process (sham) using biochemical and immunohistological assays. C57BL/6 mice were divided into 4 groups of 15 mice each and received different subcutaneous implants: natural latex biomembrane (NLB), denatured latex (DL), expanded polytetrafluorethylene (ePTFE), or sham. On the 2nd, 7th, and 14th days post-treatment, 5 mice per group were sacrificed and biopsied for the following measurements: oxidative stress based on malondialdehyde (MDA), myeloperoxidase (MPO) and hydrogen peroxide by the method of ferrous oxidation-xylenol orange (FOX), as well as glutathione and total proteins; histological evaluation to enumerate inflammatory cells, fibroblasts, blood vessels, and collagen, and immunohistochemical staining for inducible nitric oxide synthase, interleukin-1β, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1). On day 2 post-treatment, NLB stimulated a dense inflammatory infiltrate mainly consisting of polymorphonuclear cells, as indicated by increased MPO (P < 0.05), but oxidative stress due to MDA was not observed until the 7th day (P < 0.05). The number of blood vessels was greater in NLB (P < 0.05) and DL (P < 0.05) mice compared to sham animals on day 14. NLB induced fibroplasia by day 14 (P < 0.05) with low expression of TGF-β1 and collagenesis. Thus, NLB significantly induced the inflammatory phase of healing mediated by oxidative stress, which appeared to influence the subsequent phases such as angiogenesis (with low expression of VEGF) and fibroplasia (independent of TGF-β1) without influencing collagenesis.