The Role of Alimentary Factors Used in Animal Diets on Gut Microbiota and Immune Regulation

Dear Colleagues,

In modern animal nutrition, there is a need to pay more attention not only to the growth performance results of reared animals, but also to their physiological and immunological response. This is crucial for improving animal health, which reduces pharmaceutical usage and economic losses. Consequently, the environmental impact is significantly diminished by lowering antibiotic release. It is well known that alimentary factors may affect growth, coefficients of nutrient digestibility, endogenous enzyme activity, etc. Furthermore, their mode of action causes gut microecosystem modulation and further changes in the physiological response and the alimentary system’s integrity. Currently, many novel feed materials (insects, algae, fermentation products, etc.) and feed additives (bacteriocins, bacteriophages, postbiotics, etc.) are used in the experimental conditions; however, there are still limited data in terms of their effect on the physiology and health of the animals. Therefore, the latest scientific knowledge should be widely available and rapidly transferred to field conditions to exhibit positive effects.

The goal of this Special Issue is to exhibit any solutions connected to feeding programs, specific products such as feedstuffs, and feed additives used in animal nutrition that may improve animal health, physiological and immunological status, gut integrity, histomorphology, the efficiency of nutrient utilization, and consequently, growth performance and economic profit. We invite you to publish original scientific articles as well as review papers to expand the current knowledge in the field.

The main aims of the Special Issue include:

• Implementation of various alternative feed materials in animal nutrition;
• Feed additive administration to improve growth performance;
• Assessment of alimentary factors in terms of the physiological and immunological response of animals;
• The usage of non-GMO feed materials in animal nutrition;
• Production of alternative feedstuffs;
• Technological processes to improve feed quality.

We encourage you to share new information about the effects of various dietary factors in animal diets on gut microbiota modulation and immunological and physiological responses.

Dr. Bartosz Kierończyk
Dr. Anita Zaworska-Zakrzewska
Dr. Robert Mikuła
Dr. Mateusz Rawski
Guest Editors

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.

• alimentary factors
• feed additives
• alternative feed materials
• animal health
• gut microbiota modulation
• immunological and physiological response