Spleen Histopathological Evaluation of Broiler Chickens Challenged with Escherichia coli and Its Effect Towards the Combination of Javanese Cardamom and Turmeric Herbs

The overuse of antibiotics for collibacilosis treatments in practice has raised concerns about multidrug resistance. This study aimed to assess the potential of herbal plants substances of Javanese cardamom and turmeric rhizome as a treatment for colibacillo-sis by focusing the analysis on spleen histopathology structures. A total of 32 histo-pathological slides of the spleen were collected from 35-day-old Cobb-strain broilers, which had previously undergone an in vivo experiment. The histopathology slides were stained with H&E and evaluated using five primary lesion parameters to ana-lysed the structure of the spleen. The data were then quantified using ImageJ and then graded on an ordinal scale from 1 (least affected) to 5 (most severely affected). The histopathological lesion score in the herbal combination group (C4) resulted in the lowest severity grade compared to antibiotic and individual herb treatments with scores 7.50 out of 20. Severity degree for for vasculitis, necrosis, and lymphoid deple-tion parameters were notably significant between all group (p-value < 0.0001), The herbal combination performed as an antibacterial, protective agent, and immunomod-ulator, therefore preserving the structure of the spleen cells.