The Role of Functional Feed Additives in Modulating Intestinal Health and Integrity

Abstract

One of the biggest challenges for the animal feed industry in the coming years will be to meet the growing demand in animal protein in light of increased cost of feed ingredient as well as tougher restrictions on the use of antimicrobial growth promoters imposed by consumers and governments. A key focus area will be to maximise feed efficiency and minimise nutrient waste. It has been widely acknowledged that the composition of the intestinal microflora is closely related to intestinal health and performance of animals. Advanced microbial techniques have shown a close relationship between bacterial communities and their ability to modulate nutrient absorption and processing. In addition it has been recognised that modulating the immune response has significant impact on overall health as well as overall nutrient demand. Molecular techniques are a useful tool to gain an understanding of the impact of dietary interventions including the use of functional feed additives on specific changes in microbial communities or the immune system. Most these techniques however focus on the evaluation of large changes in bacterial compositions and often underestimate or neglect to recognise small changes in microbial diversity or behaviour changes without any measurable immune response. The key to understanding the relationship between specific nutritional intervention and the impact on health and performance lies in a deeper understanding of the impact of these nutrients on the expression of specific genes or specific metabolic pathways. The development of molecular tools as a result of developments in the field of Nutrigenomics has enabled researchers to study the effects of specific nutrients on the whole genome or in other words, the effect of thousands of genes simultaneously, and has opened a completely different avenue for nutritional research.