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Animals
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Recent Advances in Probiotics Application on Animal Health
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Recent Advances in Probiotics Application on Animal Health

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2024) | Viewed by 7830

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Irida Palamidi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Nutritional Physiology and Feeding, Department of Animal Science, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Interests: gut ecosystem; probiotics; phytogenics; microbiota; broiler nutrition

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Probiotics are defined as “mono or mixed strains of living microorganisms which confer a desirable health benefit on the host when used adequately”. Although a cumulative body of evidence shows that probiotics and their metabolites could directly or indirectly impact gut microbiota and host immune functions, there is a lack of understanding of how probiotics influence the gut ecosystem. The proposed modes of action include enhancing epithelial barrier integrity, competitive exclusion, the secretion of bacteriocins, interference with quorum-sensing signaling agents, and immunomodulation. However, the overall efficiency of probiotics is dictated by factors such as the optimal selection of microbial strains; the use of a proper dose; and the species, age, and dynamics of the gastrointestinal (GI) microbial communities of the animal.

This Special Issue welcomes and encourages original research papers (in vivo or in vitro studies) and reviews on the recent advances in probiotics application on animal health—for example, how probiotics affect productivity; health biomarkers; GI health; the beneficial effects of probiotics on GI microbiota; and the effect of probiotics in the quorum-sensing signaling of microbial populations, in host signaling and the immune system, and in pathogen exclusion. The exploration of the role of probiotics could also be captured by modern approaches of metagenomics, meta-transcriptomics, and integrated omics, which enable an understanding of the probiotic mode of action on GI health and host immune function.

Dr. Irida Palamidi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • probiotics
  • animal health
  • microbiota
  • immune system
  • quorum sensing
  • gut
  • host signaling
  • productivity
  • health biomarkers

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 696 KiB  
Article
Effects of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FD777 and Macleaya cordata Extract on Performance, Immunity, Gastrointestinal System Microbiome, and Profitability in Holstein Calves
by Mehmet Küçükoflaz, Veli Özbek, Berrin Kocaoğlu Güçlü, Savaş Sarıözkan, Can İsmail Zaman, Erol Aydın, Mustafa Makav, Selma Büyükkılıç Beyzi, Sena Yılmaz Öztaş and Merve Ayyıldız Akın
Animals 2025, 15(3), 313; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15030313 - 23 Jan 2025
Viewed by 470
Abstract
This study was performed to determine the effects of dietary supplementation of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FD777 (BA) and Macleaya cordata extract (MCE) on the performance, morbidity and mortality rates, body measurements, immunity, rumen parameters, antioxidant parameters, microbiome level, and profitability of calves during the [...] Read more.
This study was performed to determine the effects of dietary supplementation of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FD777 (BA) and Macleaya cordata extract (MCE) on the performance, morbidity and mortality rates, body measurements, immunity, rumen parameters, antioxidant parameters, microbiome level, and profitability of calves during the pre-weaning period. In the study, 51 calves were divided into three groups as one control and two treatment groups considering their age (1 day old), gender (nine females and eight males in each group), and birth weight (37.7 ± 0.4 kg). The calves in the control group (CON) were fed milk without supplements whereas the first treatment group (BA) was fed milk containing 10 mL/day/head of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FD777 and the second treatment group (MCE) was fed milk containing 2 g/day/head of MCE. As a result, supplementing BA and MCE to calf milk had no significant effect on body weight (BW), dry matter intake (DMI), feed efficiency (FE), morbidity and mortality rates, rumen pH, IgG, IgA, and IgM values, and gastrointestinal microbiota (p > 0.05). On the other hand, it was determined that body weight gain (BWG), body length, body depth, rump width, withers height change, rump height change, rump width change, and serum GSH level increased significantly in the BA group compared to the control group (p < 0.05). According to the partial budget analysis, despite the additional cost of supplementing BA to the calf milk, no calf deaths and lower disease were observed in this group, unlike the other groups, resulting in a lowest calf rearing cost and highest profit. In calves receiving MCE, withers height, rump height, body length, rump width, body depth, chest circumference change, withers height change, rump height change, and rump width change values increased significantly compared with the control group (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the results obtained not only reveal the positive effects of BA and MCE on calves during the pre-weaning period, but also encourage the necessity of investigating their effects on the long-term performance of animals and farm economies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Probiotics Application on Animal Health)
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12 pages, 3089 KiB  
Article
Rumen Microbiota Transplantation Alleviates Gossypol Diet-Induced Reproductive, Liver, and Intestinal Damage in Male Mice
by Chen Zhang, Wenguang Lu, Huiru Liu, Lingwei Shen, Mengfan Zhu, Tangtang Zhou, Ling Zhang, Dingfu Xiao and Lijuan Chen
Animals 2024, 14(15), 2206; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14152206 - 30 Jul 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1162
Abstract
Ruminants exhibit stronger tolerance to gossypol, an anti-nutritional factor, compared to monogastric animals. We transplanted Hu sheep rumen microbiota into male mice to investigate the role of rumen microbiota in animal gossypol tolerance. Thirty specific-pathogen-free (SPF) male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into [...] Read more.
Ruminants exhibit stronger tolerance to gossypol, an anti-nutritional factor, compared to monogastric animals. We transplanted Hu sheep rumen microbiota into male mice to investigate the role of rumen microbiota in animal gossypol tolerance. Thirty specific-pathogen-free (SPF) male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into three groups: normal diet (CK group), gossypol diet (FG group), and rumen microbiota transplantation (FMT group, gossypol diet). The pathological changes in the liver and small intestine of the mice, the organ coefficient, and sperm parameters were analyzed. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels in the blood and lactate dihydrogen-X (LDH-X) levels in the testicular tissue were also measured. The results showed that body weight, feed intake, sperm concentration, sperm motility, and LDH-X levels in the FMT group increased (p < 0.05) compared with the FG group, while the enzyme activities of ALT, AST, and AST/ALT decreased (p < 0.05). In the FMT group, the injury to liver cells was alleviated, the structure of the small intestine was intact, and the villus height and the ratio of villus height to crypt depth (V/C) were higher than those in the FG group (p < 0.05). And there were no differences in various organ coefficients and sperm deformity rates among the three groups (p > 0.05), but compared with the FG group, mice in the FMT group showed tendencies closer to those in the CK group. Rumen microbiota transplantation relieved the reproductive toxicity and liver damage induced by gossypol in male mice and improved the tolerance of recipient animals to gossypol. Additionally, rumen microbes improved the intestinal structural integrity of recipients. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Probiotics Application on Animal Health)
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14 pages, 1572 KiB  
Article
Effects of Mink-Origin Enterococcus faecium on Growth Performance, Antioxidant Capacity, Immunity, and Intestinal Microbiota of Growing Male Minks
by Lin Cao, Fengxue Sun, Qifeng Ren, Ziyi Jiang, Jian Chen, Yalin Li and Lihua Wang
Animals 2024, 14(14), 2120; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14142120 - 20 Jul 2024
Viewed by 932
Abstract
The purpose of this experiment was to explore the effects of dietary Enterococcus faecium (EF) on the growth performance, antioxidant capacity, immunity, and intestinal microbiota of growing male minks. A total of 60 male Regal White minks at 12 weeks of age were [...] Read more.
The purpose of this experiment was to explore the effects of dietary Enterococcus faecium (EF) on the growth performance, antioxidant capacity, immunity, and intestinal microbiota of growing male minks. A total of 60 male Regal White minks at 12 weeks of age were randomly assigned to two groups, each with 15 replicates of two minks per replicate. The minks in two groups were fed the basal diets and the basal diets with viable Enterococcus faecium (more than 107 cfu/kg of diet), respectively. Compared with the minks in control, Enterococcus faecium minks had heavier body weight (BW) at week 4 and week 8 of the study (p < 0.05), greater average daily gain (ADG), and a lower feed/gain ratio (F/G) of male minks during the initial 4 weeks and the entire 8-week study period (p < 0.05). Furthermore, Enterococcus faecium increased the apparent digestibility of crude protein (CP) and dry matter (DM) compared to the control (p < 0.05). Moreover, Enterococcus faecium enhanced the serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and decreased the malondialdehyde (MDA) contents (p < 0.05). The results also confirmed that Enterococcus faecium increased the levels of serum immunoglobulin A (IgA), immunoglobulin G (IgG), and the concentrations of secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) in the jejunal mucosa while decreasing the interleukin-8 (IL-8) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) levels in the jejunal mucosa (p < 0.05). Intestinal microbiota analysis revealed that Enterococcus faecium increased the species numbers at the OUT level. Compared with the control, Enterococcus faecium had significant effects on the relative abundance of Paraclostridium, Brevinema, and Comamonas (p < 0.05). The results showed that Enterococcus faecium could improve the growth performance, increase the antioxidant capacity, improve the immunity of growing male minks, and also modulate the gut microbiota. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Probiotics Application on Animal Health)
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19 pages, 1573 KiB  
Article
The Optimal Supplementation of Fermented Product Produced by Bacillus subtilis Strain LYS1 with High Surfactin Yield for Improving Growth Performance, Intestinal Villi Morphology, and Tibial Bone Strength in Broilers
by Yueh-Sheng Lee, Kuo-Lung Ku, Chi-Shih Chu and Kuo-Lung Chen
Animals 2024, 14(14), 2079; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14142079 - 16 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1073
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the physiochemical characterizations of the fermented product (FP) produced by the high-yield surfactin strain Bacillus subtilis LYS1 (LYS1), as well as its effects on growth performance, carcass traits, intestinal morphology, tibial bone characteristics, and clinical blood biochemistry in [...] Read more.
This study aimed to investigate the physiochemical characterizations of the fermented product (FP) produced by the high-yield surfactin strain Bacillus subtilis LYS1 (LYS1), as well as its effects on growth performance, carcass traits, intestinal morphology, tibial bone characteristics, and clinical blood biochemistry in broilers. Accordingly, the optimal supplementation of FP for improving growth performance, intestinal villi development, and tibial bone strength in broilers was elucidated using a broken-line quadratic (BLQ) ascending model. Three hundred and sixty 0-day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks, with equal numbers of both sexes, were randomly assigned to dietary supplementation of 2.5% fish meal or 0, 1, 1.5, 2, or 2.5% FP. Each treatment had six replicates, and the experimental period was 5 wk. The LYS1 count, surfactin content, and surfactin composition of the FP were 9.1 log CFU/g, 11.23 mg/g, and C12 to C18, respectively. The FP-supplemented groups improved feed intake, weight gain (WG), and production efficiency factor at 0 to 5 weeks old (p < 0.05) compared with the 0% group. The villus height/crypt depth (V/C) in the jejunum and ileum of the FP-supplemented groups was higher than in the 0% group (p < 0.05). The tibiotarsal index, Ca, and P in the tibia showed a linear effect with increased FP supplementation (p < 0.05). Moreover, the tibiotarsus weight/length index (TWLI) showed a quadratic effect with increased FP supplementation (p < 0.05). The optimal supplementation of FP for WG, V/C in the jejunum and ileum, and TWLI was 1.8, 1.9, and 1.6%, respectively. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with 1 to 2.5% LYS1 FP in broilers can improve their growth performance and the development of intestinal villi. Moreover, 1.9% is the optimal supplementation of LYS1 FP in the diet, based on the fitting results obtained with the BLQ model. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Probiotics Application on Animal Health)
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17 pages, 2323 KiB  
Article
Evidence for Beneficial Physiological Responses of the Land Snail Cornu aspersum to Probiotics’ (Lactobacillus plantarum) Dietary Intervention
by Efstratios Efstratiou, Konstantinos Feidantsis, Vasiliki Makri, Alexandra Staikou and Ioannis A. Giantsis
Animals 2024, 14(6), 857; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14060857 - 11 Mar 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1581
Abstract
A large variety of microorganisms ingested with food constitute animals’ intestinal microflora, enhancing and maintaining the homeostasis of the host. Rations enriched with probiotics are a method recommended to prevent undesirable conditions. To date, research has been limited to farmed animals and reared [...] Read more.
A large variety of microorganisms ingested with food constitute animals’ intestinal microflora, enhancing and maintaining the homeostasis of the host. Rations enriched with probiotics are a method recommended to prevent undesirable conditions. To date, research has been limited to farmed animals and reared fish, creating a knowledge gap concerning the effect of probiotics on the growth rate, physiological responses, and energy metabolism of invertebrates such as the land snail Cornu aspersum. Herein, juvenile snails (26.23 ± 0.5 mm shell diameter and 8.23 ± 1.02 g body weight) were fed L. plantarum probiotic-enriched rations in two different proportions (1.25 mg and 2.5 mg), and their growth rate was monitored for three months. Additionally, the RNA/DNA and Bax/Bcl-2 ratios, HSP gene expression and protein levels, and ND2 expression, were measured in the hepatopancreas, digestive tract, and mantle. Although the snails’ growth rate was not affected, the RNA/DNA ratio presented an increase in various tissues, indicating an intense physiological response. Also, probiotic administration demonstrated low levels of the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. HSP levels were higher in the presence of probiotics, probably signaling an attempt by the animal to face potentially stressful situations. Finally, ND2 expression levels in the hepatopancreas indicate intense metabolic and antioxidant activity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Probiotics Application on Animal Health)
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19 pages, 4346 KiB  
Article
Effects of Dietary Limosilactobacillus fermentum and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei Supplementation on the Intestinal Stem Cell Proliferation, Immunity, and Ileal Microbiota of Broiler Chickens Challenged by Coccidia and Clostridium perfringens
by Shuangshuang Guo, Wenfei Tong, Ya Qi, Meihan Jiang, Peng Li, Zhengfan Zhang, Qunbing Hu, Zhuan Song and Binying Ding
Animals 2023, 13(24), 3864; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13243864 - 15 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1765
Abstract
This study was conducted to investigate effects of dietary Limosilactobacillus fermentum and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei supplementation on the intestinal stem cell proliferation, immunity, and ileal microbiota of broiler chickens challenged by coccidia and Clostridium perfringens. A total of 336 one-day-old Ross 308 chickens [...] Read more.
This study was conducted to investigate effects of dietary Limosilactobacillus fermentum and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei supplementation on the intestinal stem cell proliferation, immunity, and ileal microbiota of broiler chickens challenged by coccidia and Clostridium perfringens. A total of 336 one-day-old Ross 308 chickens were randomly assigned into four groups. Chickens in the control (CTR) group were fed basal diet, and chickens in the three challenged groups were fed basal diets supplemented with nothing (CCP group), 1.0 × 109 CFU/kg L. fermentum (LF_CCP group), and 1.0 × 109 CFU/kg L. paracasei (LP_CCP group), respectively. All challenged birds were infected with coccildia on day 9 and Clostridium perfringens during days 13–18. The serum and intestinal samples were collected on days 13 and 19. The results showed that L. fermentum significantly increased jejunal gene expression of cdxB (one of the intestinal stem cell marker genes) on day 13. Additionally, L. fermentum significantly up-regulated mRNA levels of JAK3 and TYK2 and tended to increase STAT6 mRNA expression in jejunum on day 19. In the cecal tonsil, both L. fermentum and L. paracasei decreased mRNA expression of JAK2 on day 13, and L. fermentum down-regulated JAK1-2, STAT1, and STAT5-6 gene expressions on day 19. Ileal microbiological analysis showed that coccidial infection increased the Escherichia–Shigella, Lactobacillus, and Romboutsia abundance and decreased Candidatus_Arthromitus richness on day 13, which were reversed by Lactobacillus intervention. Moreover, Lactobacilli increased ileal Lactobacillus richness on day 19. In conclusion, Lactobacilli alleviated the impairment of intestinal stem cell proliferation and immunity in coccidia- and C. perfringens-challenged birds via modulating JAK/STAT signaling and reshaping intestinal microflora. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Probiotics Application on Animal Health)
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