Effect of co-infection with Newcastle disease virus on Mycoplasma gallisepticum pathogenesis in vivo and in vitro

The co-infection of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) and Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) has a detrimental effect on chicken production performance, exerts a deleterious impact on poultry production performance, resulting in substantial economic losses. However, the exact impact and underlying mechanisms remain ambiguous. In this study, co-infection models were established both in vivo and in vitro. Through these models, it was found that the co-infection facilitated the replication of MG and NDV, as well as MG induced pathogenesis. The administration of lentogenic NDV resulted in the suppression of the innate immune response in vivo. At cellular level, co-infection promoted MG induced apoptosis through caspase-dependent mitochondrial endogenous pathway and suppressed the inflammatory secretion. This research contributes novel insights in co-infection.