Gut health Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

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- by santhoshkumar san
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- Probiotics, Health, Fitness, Gut Microbiota

To evaluate the effect of L-Threonine (L-Thr) and Mycofix® Plus (MP) on aflatoxicosis, an experiment with a 3-way ANOVA model was carried out with 8 replicates and 640 birds. Treatments included two levels of L-Thr (100% and 125% of the requirements, Cobb 500, Cobb-Vantress), Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) (0, 500 ppb), and MP (0, 1 g/kg). As the main effects showed, AFB1 decreased breast meat yield and carcass percentage (p < 0.001), serum urea, antibody titer against infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), and bone density (p < 0.05), while it increased the plasma concentrations of glucose and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (p < 0.05). Mycofix Plus improved the grower feed intake (FI), tibia fresh weight, and body weight (BW) to bone weight (p < 0.05). L-Threonine increased the grower FI, breast meat yield, serum aspartate transaminase (AST), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) (p < 0.05). There were positive interactions with breast meat yield, cholesterol, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and IBV titer. Of the treatments used, the combination of L-Thr and MP without AFB1 improved breast meat and carcass percentage. L-Threonine and MP significantly improved IBV titer in birds challenged with AFB1 (p < 0.001). In conclusion, L-Thr and MP were beneficial to improve immunity.

- by Aydin Mesgar
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- Meat quality, Broilers Nutrition, Gut health

With the increasing concerns over food safety during these years, there has been an intense effort for substituting (eliminating) antibiotic growth promoters in poultry feeds. Therefore , in order to investigate the effect of natural alternatives for antibiotics, an experiment was conducted to examine the effect of virginiamycin, a prebiotic (Fructomix), and peppermint (Mentha piperita) essential oil on productive performance, digestibility, intestinal morphology and immune response of broilers. A total of 240 Ross 308 male broilers were randomly (completely randomized design) allotted to five treatments, with four replicates per treatment (12 chickens per pen). Birds were offered either a maize-soybean meal basal diet (control, CON) or the basal diet supplemented with 200 mg/kg virginiamycin (VM); 200 mg/kg peppermint oil (PO1); 400 mg/kg peppermint oil (PO2); or 500 mg/kg Fructomix (FM). After 6 weeks, daily live weight gain and feed intake were higher (P<0.001) for VM-fed birds compared with other groups. Feed conversion ratio was better (P=0.039) in chicks fed the VM (1.74), and PO1 diet (1.75) compared with birds in the CON (1.84) and PO2 (1.86) groups. Primary antibody titers against sheep red blood cell were higher (P<0.001) in broilers fed FM (6.37) compared with other groups. At 21d of age, crude protein digestibility was higher (P=0.001) in PO1 group (0.8645) compared with other groups except VM (0.8505). Finally, higher ether extract digestibility (P=0.040) was detected in birds fed VM (0.8831) compared with PO2 (0.7940), and FM (0.7561) fed birds. In duodenum, villus height: crypt depth was higher (P=0.008) in VM supplemented group (7.07) in comparison with other groups. In conclusion, this study showed that neither PO nor FM could be suggested as effective alternative for VM.

- by Nima Khodambashi Emami
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- Immunology, Poultry Nutrition, Gut health

- by Rajesh Jha
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- Immunology, Nutrition, Probiotics, Gut Microbiota

Fermentation of both dietary fiber (DF) and protein in the pig intestine is a matter of interest because of their potential beneficial or harmful effects on gut health and on the environment. This paper reviews some of the relevant information available on DF and protein fermentation and their interactive effects on the gut environment of pigs and its contribution to emission of nitrogenous gases and odor from pig manure and piggeries. The fermentation of protein and the associated production of metabolic compounds are discussed in relation to DF fermentation, their impact on gut health, bacterial protein synthesis and nitrogen (N) excretion. Some nutritional strategies to reduce protein fermentation in the gut such as the reduction of the amount of crude protein (CP) in the diet and/or the inclusion of fermentable DF are also presented. Also, to cope with the negative impact of intensive pig production on the environment, different nutritional approaches such as reducing N excretion by lowering CP intake, shifting the N excretion pathway from urine to feces and lowering the pH of manure by lowering the pH of urine and feces have been reviewed. Overall, inclusion of DF and reduction of CP in pig diets seems to be an effective nutritional strategy that may counteract the negative effects of protein fermentation in the pig gut by reducing ammonia concentration, shifting N excretion pathways in the gut and minimizing the negative impact of intensive pig production on the environment.

- by Rajesh Jha
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- Swine Nutrition, Dietary fiber, Crude Protein, Gut health

Although dietary fiber (DF) negatively affects energy and nutrient digestibility, there is growing interest for the inclusion of its fermentable fraction in pig diets due to their functional properties and potential health benefits beyond supplying energy to the animals. This paper reviews some of the relevant information available on the role of different types of DF on digestion of nutrients in different sections of the gut, the fermentation process and its influence on gut environment, especially production and utilization of metabolites, microbial community and gut health of swine. Focus has been given on DF from feed ingredients (grains and coproducts) commonly used in pig diets. Some information on the role DF in purified form in comparison with DF in whole matrix of feed ingredients is also presented. First, composition and fractions of DF in different feed ingredients are briefly reviewed. Then, roles of different fractions of DF on digestion characteristics and physiological functions in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) are presented. Specific roles of different fractions of DF on fermentation characteristics and their effects on production and utilization of metabolites in the GIT have been discussed. In addition, roles of DF fermentation on metabolic activity and microbial community in the intestine and their effects on intestinal health are reviewed and discussed. Evidence presented in this review indicates that there is wide variation in the composition and content of DF among feed ingredients, thereby their physico-chemical properties in the GIT of swine. These variations, in turn, affect the digestion and fermentation characteristics in the GIT of swine. Digestibility of DF from different feed ingredients is more variable and lower than that of other nutrients like starch, sugars, fat and CP. Soluble fractions of DF are fermented faster, produce higher amounts of volatile fatty acid than insoluble fractions, and favors growth of beneficial microbiota. Thus, selective inclusion of DF in diets can be used as a nutritional strategy to optimize the intestinal health of pigs, despite its lower digestibility and consequential negative effect on digestibility of other nutrients.

- by Rajesh Jha
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- Digestion, Swine Nutrition, Fermentation, Dietary fiber

The gut microbiota has been extensively examined because it plays pivotal roles in poultry health, growth and development. In poultry flocks, gut microbiota and host health and productivity are interwoven and influenced by factors including host derived, environmental and nutritional factors, which consequently influence the growth and performance of these birds. The responsiveness of chickens’ gut microbes during stress conditions such as heat stress that is commonly encountered during production is of imminent concern because healthy maintenance of the host-gut-microbiota relationship will result in improved bird growth and productive performance. Previous studies have established the link between gut microbiota alterations and immune system dysfunction in poultry birds, which is primarily initiated by stressors. However, shifts in the gut microbiota could also be linked to several diseases that negatively affect the immune system. The goal of this mini review was to focus on understanding the impact of heat stress on the gut microbiota and how this affects the health of the birds. We also suggest possible ways to ameliorate stress in poultry for improved productivity. Good knowledge of these salient points would help to develop new approaches to provide a better environment and feeding conditions for poultry birds, as strategies toward achieving improved poultry production.

- by Fisayo Akinyemi
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- Gut Microbiota, Immune system, Heat stress, Poultry Health

Several concerns exist regarding horse rearing such as environmental pollution, antibiotics resistance, digestive disorders, mycotoxins contamination of animal feed, gut health management, and improvement of feed efficiency. Nanoparticles have the potential to address these issues and thus could be used as feed additive. Citrate reduces and stabilizes gold anoparticles, alongside bio-synthesized silver nanoparticles have the potential to prolong and improve digestive enzyme activity, which would enhance starch digestibility in the stomach. Zinc oxide and selenium nanoparticles could be used to improve feed digestibility and volatile fatty acids production. Magnesium oxide, silver, and copper nanoparticles exhibit strong antimicrobial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative microbes
and weaken the biofilm formation of the microbial community. Calcium, zinc, and silver nanoparticles
could be used to prevent periodontal disease in horses. In addition, silver nanoparticles may be applied as antifasciolitics and potentially against other gastrointestinal parasites. Environmental concern of
equines could be addressed by using cerium oxide, silver, and cobalt nanoparticles to reduce methane emission and zinc oxide could help to reduce fecal mineral output. Fullerol C60[OH]24, a honey-derived silver nanoparticle and zinc oxide nanoparticles exhibit attractive antibacterial properties because of increased specific surface area as the reduced particle enhance unit surface reactivity. Gut health management of equines could be solved with nanoparticles because of the ability of ferrous oxide and copper nanoparticles to improve microbial growth, whereas zinc oxide improves villus height, crypt depth, and villous surface area. It is required to explore in depth the beneficial effects of these nanoparticles as a novel area in the equine industry's both in vitro and in vivo before recommendation to equine owners.

The incidence of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) has been growing globally, posing threat to medical practice. Around
this instance, environmental enteropathy remains one of the major causes of infant mortality. In the past few decades,
great efforts have been laid to foster gut health. Efforts have been focused on understanding the role of exogenous factors
such as sanitation, exclusive breast feeding, consumption of probiotic nutrition, etc. Antibiotics, while treating the disease
successfully, diminishes the gut micro biome and possess the threat of developing resistance. A complementary way of
enhance gut health is to build a healthy gut micro biome environment which requires a great insight in understanding the host-microbiome interactions. Precise engineering of bacteriophages to develop novel models to understand, describe, probe and modify gut function by building a healthy micro biome environment will yield decade’s worth progress in the field of biotechnology. The objective of this article is to introduce the hypothesis of tuning gut microbiota using bacteriophages and to familiarize the physiology of a bacteriophage, to elaborate its current implications, challenges faced on its application, future scope and to motivate new researchers to bring out novel strategies to mitigate the burden and spread of Environmental Enteric Dysfunction (EED) by establishing a healthy micro biome using bacteriophage- mediated micro biome engineering which proves complementary to nutritional and chemotherapeutic approaches.
Keywords: Bacteriophage; Environmental; Enteropathy; Gut Health; Gut Micro Biome.
List of Abbreviations: AMR - Antimicrobial resistance; WHO- World Health Organisation; EED- Environmental
Enteric Dysfunction; DNA- Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid; dsDNA- Double stranded Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid; ssDNA- Single
stranded Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid; ssRNA- Single stranded Ribo Nucleic Acid; CRISPR- Clustered, Regularly Interspaced
Short Palindromic Repeats; CAS- CRISPR Associated Sequences; SiRNA- Silencing RNA; HMC- Hydroxy Methyl Cytosine
PCR- Polymerase Chain Reaction.

The effect of six genotypes (Zebu = Z, European Brown Swiss = EBS, Holstein = H, Z · EBS, Zebu · American Brown Swiss = ABS, Z · ABS, Z · H) on carcass and meat characteristics of young bullocks finished under feedlot conditions was tested. The Z · ABS bullocks had the highest (P = 0.001) average daily gain. The highest (P = 0.017) final liveweight was observed with Z · ABS > EBS > H genotypes. The ribeye area was larger (P = 0.012) for EBS bullocks. Both H and EBS bullocks had lowest (P = 0.001) physiological maturity; although the H bullocks had higher (P = 0.006) pelvis and heart fat values. The best (P = 0.014) conformation was obtained with the Z · ABS and Z · EBS genotypes. The greatest amount of marbling (P = 0.001) was obtained with the H genotype. In general, the crossbred genotypes showed better feedlot performance and carcass characteristics, and it seems that Holstein breed could have a an advantage from the marbling score point of view.

- by Oscar Vazquez Mendoza and +1
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- Dairy cattle nutrition, Beef Cattle, Rumen Fermentation, Feed Additives

Microbial populations in the gastrointestinal tract contribute to host health and nutrition. Although gut microbial ecology is well studied in livestock and domestic animals, little is known of the endogenous populations inhabiting primates or carnivora. We characterized microbial populations in fecal cultures from gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), Hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas) and binturongs (Arctictis binturong) to compare the microbiomes associated with different gastrointestinal morphologies and different omnivorous feeding strategies. Each species was fed a distinct standardized diet for 2 weeks prior to fecal collection. All diets were formulated to reflect the species' feeding strategies in situ. Fresh fecal samples were pooled within species and used to inoculate in vitro batch cultures. Acetate, propionate, butyrate and valerate were measured after 24 h of incubation. Eubacterial DNA was extracted from individual fecal samples, pooled, and the cpn60 gene region was amplified and then sequenced to identify the major eubacterial constituents associated with each host species. Short chain fatty acids (P < 0.001) and methane (P < 0.001) were significantly different across species. Eubacterial profiles were consistent with fermentation data and suggest an increase in diversity with dietary fiber.

- by Vivek Fellner
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- Energy, Gut Microbiome, Microbes, Gut health

Background: Adult-type hypolactasia (AH) is the most common
form of disaccharidase deficiency in humans, with a
prevalence that varies among ethnic groups. In Brazil, the few
available studies suggest a high prevalence of this condition.
The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of
AH in Brazilian patients at the Ribeira˜o Preto University Hospital,
and to study its morphologic and functional expression.
Methods: One hundred fifteen patients between 5 and 60 years
undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy were included.
Mucosal biopsy specimens were obtained from the second portion
of the duodenum. AH was defined by the disaccharidase
activity (lactase/sucrase ratio) of the duodenal mucosa. The
morphologic expression of lactase was studied by immunohistochemistry.
Results: The mean age of the subjects was 28.8 ± 14.8 years.
Seventy of the 115 subjects (60.8% prevalence) had AH by
enzyme activity measurements. Milk drinking was common
and similar in patients with and without AH. Among the patients,
91.3% of the nonwhite and 53.2% of the white individuals
had hypolactasia (P 0.002). Immunohistochemistry revealed
the presence of lactase in 73.3% of individuals with
normal lactase activity. Two different expression patterns were
found in patients with AH.
Conclusions: The prevalence of AH was high in our subjects
and similar to that reported in other Brazilian studies. Hypolactasia
was more common among nonwhites. Immunohistochemistry
permitted the identification of two phenotypes of
AH, the first characterized by the absence of both stainable
lactase and lactase activity, and the second by the presence of
stainable lactase without significant activity.

- by Alexandra W Einerhand
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- Microbiology, Probiotics, Food and Nutrition, Prebiotics

- by Rajesh Jha
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- Immunology, Nutrition, Probiotics, Biology

Background: In the food industries, several oligosaccharides have received increasing attention as key components for functional foods and nutraceutical products. Prebiotics are non-digestible oligosaccharides which have been shown to have properties that can modulate gastrointestinal problems and improve gut health and well-being. Recent researches much pay attention to find alternative sources, improve specific properties and proof on health benefits of these prebiotics.Methods: This is the summary of research works have been done by our research group on prebiotics and gut health in Thailand. These works aimed to study sources of prebiotics from fruits and vegetables in Thailand, production by enzymatic synthesis of prebiotics, purification by microbial fermentation and membrane technology and applications of the prebiotics in nutraceuticals and functional foods.Results: Among the 30 parts of 14 plants, six appear to have the highest potential for commercialization based on extra...

- by Budsaraporn Ngampanya
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- Prebiotics, Clinical Study, Gut health, fecal fermentation

- by Jean Eduardo de Oliveira
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- Exercise Physiology, Endocrinology & Metabolism, Medicine, Gut health

Probiotics are live microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer health benefits to the host. The use of probiotics in poultry has increased steadily over the years due to higher demand for antibiotic-free poultry. The objective of this systematic review is to present and evaluate the effects of probiotics on the nutrient utilization, growth and laying performance, gut histomorphology, immunity, and gut microbiota of poultry. An electronic search was conducted using relevant keywords to include papers pertinent to the topic. Seventeen commonly used probiotic species were critically assessed for their roles in the performance and gut health of poultry under existing commercial production conditions. The results showed that probiotic supplementation could have the following effects: (1) modification of the intestinal microbiota, (2) stimulation of the immune system, (3) reduction in inflammatory reactions, (4) prevention of pathogen colonization, (5) enhancement of growth performance, (6) alteration of the ileal digestibility and total tract apparent digestibility coefficient, and (7) decrease in ammonia and urea excretion. Thus, probiotics can serve as a potential alternative to antibiotic growth promoters in poultry production. However, factors such as the intestinal health condition of birds, the probiotic inclusion level; and the incubation conditions, feedstuff, and water quality offered to birds may affect the outcome. This systematic review provides a summary of the use of probiotics in poultry production, as well as the potential role of probiotics in the nutrient utilization, growth and laying performance, and gut health of poultry.

- by Pravin Mishra
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- Immunology, Nutrition, Probiotics, Gut Microbiota

- by Razib Das
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- Immunology, Nutrition, Probiotics, Gut Microbiota

Aleurone, a layer of the bran fraction, is deemed to be responsible for the positive health effects associated with the consumption of whole-grain products. Studies on rodents, pigs, and humans report beneficial effects of aleurone in five main areas: the reduction of oxidative stress, immunomodulatory effects, modulation of energy management, digestive health, and the storage of vitamins and minerals. Our study is the first aleurone supplementation study performed in horses. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of an increase in the dose levels of aleurone on the postprandial glucose-insulin metabolism and the gut microbiome in untrained healthy horses. Seven adult Standardbred horses were supplemented with four different dose levels of aleurone (50, 100, 200, and 400 g/day for 1 week) by using a Latin square model with a 1-week wash out in between doses. On day 7 of each supplementation week, postprandial blood glucose-insulin was measured and fecal samples were collected. 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing was performed and QIIME2 software was used for microbiome analysis. Microbial community function was assessed by using the predictive metagenome analysis tool Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt) and using the Metacyc database of metabolic pathways. The relative abundancies of a pathway were analyzed by using analysis of composition of microbiomes (ANCOM) in R. There was a significant dose-dependent increase in the postprandial time to peak of glucose (p = 0.030), a significant delay in the time to peak of insulin (p = 0.025), and a significant decrease in both the insulin peak level (p = 0.049) and insulin area under the curve (AUC) (p = 0.019) with increasing dose levels of aleurone, with a consideration of 200 g being the lowest significant dose. Alpha diversity and beta diversity of the fecal microbiome showed no significant changes. Aleurone significantly decreased the relative

- by Catherine Delesalle and +5
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- Exercise Physiology, Endocrinology & Metabolism, Gut health