• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.63 no.2
• /
• pp.211-247
• /
• 2021

Livestock species experience several stresses, particularly weaning, transportation, overproduction, crowding, temperature, and diseases in their life. Heat stress (HS) is one of the most stressors, which is encountered in livestock production systems throughout the world, especially in the tropical regions and is likely to be intensified due to global rise in environmental temperature. The gut has emerged as one of the major target organs affected by HS. The alpha- and beta-diversity of gut microbiota composition are altered due to heat exposure to animals with greater colonization of pathogenic microbiota groups. HS also induces several changes in the gut including damages of microstructures of the mucosal epithelia, increased oxidative insults, reduced immunity, and increased permeability of the gut to toxins and pathogens. Vulnerability of the intestinal barrier integrity leads to invasion of pathogenic microbes and translocation of antigens to the blood circulations, which ultimately may cause systematic inflammations and immune responses. Moreover, digestion of nutrients in the guts may be impaired due to reduced enzymatic activity in the digesta, reduced surface areas for absorption and injury to the mucosal structure and altered expressions of the nutrient transport proteins and genes. The systematic hormonal changes due to HS along with alterations in immune and inflammatory responses often cause reduced feed intake and production performance in livestock and poultry. The altered microbiome likely orchestrates to the hosts for various relevant biological phenomena occurring in the body, but the exact mechanisms how functional communications occur between the microbiota and HS responses are yet to be elucidated. This review aims to discuss the effects of HS on microbiota composition, mucosal structure, oxidant-antioxidant balance mechanism, immunity, and barrier integrity in the gut, and production performance of farm animals along with the dietary ameliorations of HS. Also, this review attempts to explain the mechanisms how these biological responses are affected by HS.

• Animal Bioscience
• /
• v.36 no.5
• /
• pp.753-760
• /
• 2023

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effects of essential oil coated with glycerol monolaurate (GML) on the growth performance, intestinal morphology, and serum profiles of weaned piglets. Methods: A total of 144 weaned piglets (Duroc×[Landrace×Yorkshire], average weight 8.07±3.33 kg) were randomly assigned to three groups with six replicate pens and eight piglets per pen: i) CON: a corn-soybean basal diet; ii) LEG: with 1,000 mg/kg essential oil coated with GML; and iii) HEG: with 2,000 mg/kg essential oil coated with GML. Results: Results showed that average daily gain was increased (p<0.05) linearly by essential oil coated with GML supplementation on day 14 to 28 and day 0 to 28 compared with the CON group. Dietary supplementation with HEG increased (p<0.05) total antioxidant capacity and catalase activity on day 14, and immunoglobulin A (IgA) and IgM concentration on day 28 and tended to increase IgG on day 28. In addition, the crypt depth in the jejunum was reduced (p<0.05), and villus height and villus height/crypt depth in the ileum were increased (p<0.05) in the HEG group compared with the CON group. Moreover, lower (p<0.05) concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α, interferon-γ, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-8, and IL-10 were observed in the jejunum of piglets supplemented with HEG compared with the CON group. In addition, dietary HEG tended to decrease IL-6 level in the jejunum of piglets compared with the CON group. Conclusion: Dietary essential oil coated with GML can improve growth performance of weaned piglets. Moreover, supplementing 2,000 mg/kg essential oil coated with GML was demonstrated to improve antioxidant ability, and intestinal morphology, and reduce jejunal inflammatory factor levels.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
• /
• v.43 no.1
• /
• pp.14-20
• /
• 2016

One of the most powerful health management practices is the use of antibiotics, but their use is being restricted because of health safety issues. The swine industry has been looking for various alternatives to antibiotics and increasingly considers the use of dietary factors like feed ingredients, feed additives, feed formulation practices, or feeding methods, instead of using antibiotics to improve pig health and performance. Among other alternatives to antibiotics, spray-dried plasma may be a candidate. Spray-dried plasma is a blood product that provides bioavailable nutrients and physiologically active components such as immunoglobulins, glycoproteins, growth factors, peptides, etc. It is an excellent protein source with balanced and highly digestible amino acids. Several beneficial physiological activities depend on components of spray-dried plasma, such as immune competence (antibacterial activity), modulation of microbiota and/or immune system, integrity of intestinal barrier function, etc. These beneficial effects can contribute to improvement of pig performance and health by modulation of microbiota in the digestive tract and/or immune system. Therefore, it is suggested that spray-dried plasma has great potential as an antibiotics alternative.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
• /
• v.43 no.5
• /
• pp.750-760
• /
• 2016

The use of antibiotics in Korean swine production has been changing to a restricted use of in-feed antibiotics. These antibiotics, which are also growth promoters, are powerful for disease control. Due to this issue, the swine industry is consistently looking for any kind of alternatives to antibiotics such as new feed ingredients, feed additives, feed formulation practices, or feeding methods to improve pig health and performance. In general, dietary factors provide bioavailable nutrients and/or affect physiological activity to modify the physiological condition, immune system, or microbial population of pigs to improve their performance and health. Thus, it is suggested that dietary factors may be important components in the growth and health management of pigs. Using an alternative grain feed such as rice, barley, and oats, low protein diets or low-high energy diets can be used as solutions to manage the effect of stress factors that cause growth and health problems at specific time points during the stages of pig production. Several studies support that these alternative feeds and dietary factors may improve pig growth and health by changes in intestinal conditions, immunity, or other physiological conditions compared with typical feed ingredients and diet management in pig production. Therefore, feed ingredients, low protein levels, and different energy contents in swine diets were reviewed to better understand how these dietary factors can contribute to improved pig performance and health under different physiological conditions.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.120-126
• /
• 2020

Objective: This study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary supplementation with Pediococcus acidilactici (P. acidilactici) ZPA017 as a probiotic on reproductive performance, fecal microbial flora and serum indices in sows during late gestation and lactation. Methods: A total of 94 sows (Large White×Yorkshire, average 4.50 parities) were randomly allotted to two dietary treatments: control diet and the diet supplemented with P. acidilactici ZPA017 (2.40×10⁹ colony-forming unit/kg of diets). The study started at d 90 of gestation and conducted until d 28 of lactation. Results: Compared to sows fed the control diet, supplementation of P. acidilactici ZPA017 increased the number of weaning piglets, weaning weight of litter and piglets, survival rate of piglets at weaning (p<0.05), and decreased diarrhea rate of piglets in lactation (p<0.05). Dietary P. acidilactici ZPA017 increased fecal Lactobacillus populations (p = 0.030) and reduced fecal Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus populations (p<0.05) of sows at weaning. Moreover, the supplementation of P. acidilactici ZPA017 increased serum concentrations of immunoglobulin G, immunoglobulin A and total protein (p<0.05), while decreased serum haptoglobin concentration and alanine aminotransferase activity (p<0.05) of sows at weaning. Conclusion: Administration of P. acidilactici ZPA017 in diets during late gestation and lactation had positive effects on the reproductive performance, intestinal microflora balance and immunity of sows.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.64 no.3
• /
• pp.409-431
• /
• 2022

Various insects have emerged as novel feed resources due to their economical, eco-friendly, and nutritive characteristics. Fish, poultry, and pigs are livestock that can feed on insects. The digestibility of insect-containing meals were presented by the species, life stage, nutritional component, and processing methods. Several studies have shown a reduced apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC) when insects were supplied as a replacement for commercial meals related to chitin. Although the expression of chitinase mRNA was present in several livestock, indigestible components in insects, such as chitin or fiber, could be a reason for the reduced ADC. However, various components can positively affect livestock health. Although the bio-functional properties of these components have been verified in vitro, they show positive health-promoting effects owing to their functional expression when directly applied to animal diets. Changes in the intestinal microbiota of animals, enhancement of immunity, and enhancement of antibacterial activity were confirmed as positive effects that can be obtained through insect diets. However, there are some issues with the safety of insects as feed. To increase the utility of insects as feed, microbial hazards, chemical hazards, and allergens should be regulated. The European Union, North America, East Asia, Australia, and Nigeria have established regulations regarding insect feed, which could enhance the utility of insects as novel feed resources for the future.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.235-243
• /
• 2011

Probiotics have many effects such as antihypertensive, prevention of cancer, antioxidation, reduction of dermatitis symptoms, improvement of mineral absorption, reduction of allergic symptoms, and decrease of cholesterol, However, the main role of probiotics is that they balance intestinal microbials proportion. L. acidophilus is one of probiotics and microflora in intestine. It has an acidification activity, aroma production, texture formation and probiotics properties. We studied on the roles of L. acidophilus in mice. In this study, body weights of mice were decreased when administration of L. acidophilus ($1{\times}10^{10}$ CFU) and swimming ability has been raised than a normal group after feeding on L. acidophilus ($1{\times}10^{10}$ CFU). After taking L. acidophilus ($1{\times}10^{10}$ CFU), total white cells were increased than a normal group; hemoglobin and thrombocytes were increased. The level of cholesterol and triglyceride were decreased in blood analysis. We knew L. acidophilus is related to innate immune system. We found out the secretion of cationic peptide was increased in the Lysoplate assays as a result of L. acidophilus ($1{\times}10^{10}$ CFU) administration. Appearance rate of lysozyme was also increased than the normal group on an immunohistochemistry stain. We confirmed L. acidophilus contributes to host health through innate immune system stimulation. L. acidophilus more than $1{\times}10^{10}$ CFU are thought to be beneficial for the host health and prevention of intestinal diseases in field condition.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.482-499
• /
• 2017

Allergic diseases have increased over the past several decade worldwide including developing countries. Allergic inflammatory responses are caused by Th (T helper)2 immune responses, triggered by allergen ingestion by antigen presenting cells such as dendritic cells (DCs). Intestinal microorganisms control the metabolism and physiological functions of the host, contribute to early immune system maturation during the early life, and homeostasis and epithelial integrity during life. Bifidobacteria have strain-specific immunostimulatory properties in the Th1/Th2 balance, inhibit TSLP (thymic stromal lymphopoietin) and IgE expression, and promote Flg (Filaggrin) and FoxP3 (Treg) expression to alleviate allergies. In addition, unmethylated CpG motif ODN (oligodeoxynucleotides) is recognized by TLR (toll-like receptors)9 of B cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) to induce innate and adaptive immune responses, while the butyrate produced by Clostridium butyricum activates the GPR (G-protein coupled receptors)109a signaling pathway to induce the expression of anti-inflammatory gene of pDCs, and directly stimulates the proliferation of thymically derived regulatory T (tTreg) cells through the activation of GPR43 or inhibits the activity of HADC (histone deacetylase) to differentiate naive $CD4^+$ T cells into pTreg cells through the histone H3 acetylation of Foxp3 gene intronic enhancer.

• Food Science and Preservation
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.474-485
• /
• 2024

The purposes of this study were to isolate the potential Lacticaseibacillus spp. from the feces of infants before weaning, to investigate the safety of antibiotics resistance and beta-haemolysis, and to evaluate the anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory effects between the selected strains and Oenanthe javanica (Oj) fermented by them. As a result of analyzing the intestinal microbial community among the stools of four infants, the genus Bifidobacterium was the most dominant, but Lacticaseibacillus (L.) rhamnosus was the most frequently isolated because of the easy culture. Nine test strains, including Lactobacillus rhamnosus LGG (ATCC 53103) as the positive control, were sensitive against 8 kinds of antibiotics without vancomycin in comparison with the cut-off values at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and there was no hemolysis. In the antibacterial activity experiment, the Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus L22-FR28 (L28, KACC 92513P) strain and Oj+L28 ferment showed significantly (p<0.05) higher activities than LGG against Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus. Additionally, these decreased the activity of the NF-kB/AP-1 transcription factor and inhibited the nitric oxide and cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6) produced in macrophage RAW cells stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Consequently, the L. rhamnosus L28 strain and Oenanthe javanica+L. rhamnosus L28 (Oj+L28) ferment selected with the high anti-inflammatory effect will improve health functionality after more research, such as the verification of animal level and identification of mechanism on an anti-inflammatory.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
• /
• v.40 no.2
• /
• pp.83-89
• /
• 2013

iNOS (Inducible nitric oxide synthase) and TLR-4 (Toll-like Receptor-4) play crucial roles in innate immunity of poultry. iNOS has been mapped to chicken chromosome 14 and implicated in a variety of chicken diseases. iNOS possesses potent antimicrobial activity, including the inhibition of microbes replication in vitro. TLR-4 is a pathogen associated molecular-pattern receptor for bacterial product, such as LPS (lipopolysaccharides) found in Gram negative bacteria, that triggers pro-inflammatory cytokine expression after engagement with ligands. In the previous studies, genetic analysis of iNOS and TLR-4 revealed the possible association of mutation in these genes with the intestinal microflora of cecum when infected with Salmonella spp. This study was aimed to augment previous findings, which show the association of iNOS (C14513T) and TLR-4 (G4409T) polymorphisms with economic traits in Korean Native Black (KNB), Rhode Island Red (RIR) and Cornish chickens. Investigation in the effect of SNPs on economic traits (layday, layw, layno, bw150, bw270, layw270) was conducted. iNOS (C14513T) had a significant effect on the average body weight at 270 days of age (p<0.05) in both KNB and RIR, whereas TLR-4 (G4409T) showed no significant correlation with all traits (p>0.05). The results obtained from using the candidate genes can be useful for the genetic improvement of body weight in both KNB and RIR breeds.