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EW Nutrition's Industry Voice | November 17, 2021

Author: Merideth Parke, Regional Technical Manager, EW Nutrition

In order to curb and reverse antimicrobial resistance, consumers and government regulators expect changes in pork production, with a clear goal to reduce the use of antibiotics (MARAN 2018).

For healthy and profitable pig production to reduce antibiotics at the same time, an overall strategy is needed: refocus on human attitudes and habits, optimize pig health and welfare, and apply potential antibiotic substitutes (EIP-AGRI).

Corn is often contaminated with Aspergillus which produces toxic mycotoxins

Pig producers need to control pathogenic pressure while reducing antibiotics

Intensive pig production has pressure points associated with basic feeding procedures, such as weaning, health interventions, and dietary adjustments. It is generally believed that stress will have a negative impact on the effectiveness of the immune system, thereby increasing the chance of pathogen invasion at the local or systemic level. Due to these comprehensive factors, the gastrointestinal tract and respiratory system are extremely susceptible to diseases. Interventions such as antibiotics are often used to reduce the impact of pathogens and manage the health of pigs. The process of minimizing the number of pathogens in the environment is the basis for a successful antibiotic reduction program. The challenge is to cleverly combine strategies to keep the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts intact and healthy.

Plant molecules are specific active defensive compounds found in plants, which have been identified as being able to pass antibacterial (Cimanga et al., 2002, Franz et al., 2010), anti-oxidation (Katalinic et al., 2006, Damjanovic-Vratnica et al. People, 2007, Lee et al., 2011), digestive stimulation and immune support functions. Since there are thousands of plant molecules, the focus of laboratory research is to identify those molecules with microbial management capabilities, promote the reduction of antibiotic dependence on pig health and welfare, and the ultimate goal of producing safe pork (Zhai et al., 2018) .

What role can plant molecules play in reducing antibiotics?

The gastrointestinal tract benefits from the use of plant molecules such as capsaicin, carvacrol, and cinnamaldehyde because they:

The pigs most susceptible and in need of plant molecular gastrointestinal support are weaned piglets and pigs of all ages that experience stress, pathogen challenges and/or dietary changes.

Porcine respiratory disease is a complex multi-factor disease. It often requires antibiotics to control infection pressure and clinical disease to maintain the health, welfare and production performance of pigs. Pathogens can pass through direct contact between pig saliva (Murase et al., 2018) or bioaerosol (LeBel et al., 2019), nasal cavity or oral cavity (directly inhaled into the airways and lungs), or through unhealthy intestines. Plant molecules such as carvacrol and cinnamaldehyde have antibacterial properties. Therefore, they may help control respiratory pathogens in their natural habitat (upper respiratory tract) or through the mouth, nose, and gastrointestinal tract (Swildens et al., 2004; Lee et al., 2001).

In addition to supporting the gastrointestinal and respiratory system, plant molecules such as menthol and 1,8-cineole have been shown to enhance the body and adaptive immune system of multiple species (Brown et al., 2017; Barbour et al., 2013) ). When applied through drinking water, adhesion to the mucous membranes of the nose and mouth helps to inhale the active plant molecular compounds into the respiratory tract. There, they act as mucolytics, muscle relaxants, and enhancers of mucociliary clearance mechanisms (Başer and Buchbauer, 2020). Plant molecules have also been shown to have a positive effect on the adaptive immune system and promote humoral and cell-mediated immune responses (Awaad et al., 2010; Gopi et al., 2014; Serafino et al., 2008).

How plant molecules play a role in the overall approach to reducing antibiotics

The Antibiotic Reduction Program actively fulfills social responsibilities by reducing the risk of farm workers being exposed to antimicrobial bacteria. They also help maintain or improve the efficiency of safe pork production-pork with the least risk of antibiotic residues.

The successful implementation of a health plan to reduce the use of antibiotics will require:

Figure 1: The role of plant molecules in EW Nutrition's overall antibiotic reduction plan

The combination of in vitro and in vivo studies provides evidence that specific plant molecules can support the intestinal and respiratory systems through biome stabilization and pathogen management (Bajabai et al., 2020). According to reports, thymol, carvacrol and cinnamaldehyde have antibacterial activity against respiratory pathogens, including Streptococcus suis, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae and Haemophilus parasuis (LeBel et al., 2019); multi-drug resistance and ESBL bacteria (Bozin et al., 2006); enteric pathogens, including Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis, Salmonella cholera and Salmonella typhimurium (Penalver et al., 2005); Clostridium, Escherichia, Brachyspira hyodysenteriae (Vande Maelle et al., 2015); and Lawsonia intracellularis (Draskovic et al., 2018). These results indicate that plant molecules are effective antibacterial alternatives and can be incorporated into overall pig health plans.

In addition, incorporating plant molecules into the pig production system can also improve production performance by reducing the negative impact of stress on pigs and increasing the positive impact on gut health and nutrient utilization (Franz et al., 2010). Plant molecules that directly affect digestion include capsaicin, which optimizes the production of digestive enzymes and increases serotonin to maintain intestinal contraction and improve chyme mixing (Zhai et al., 2018). The antioxidant activity of Cineol provides support during periods of stress (Cimanga et al., 2002).

Plant molecules are the key to reducing the use of antibiotics in pig production

The pig industry is looking for alternatives to therapeutic, preventive and growth-promoting antibiotic applications to keep the available antibiotics effective for a longer period of time-and to address the social responsibility of reducing AMR. The search for ways to produce safe pork has made it clear that only a combination of management and antibiotic alternatives can achieve these consistent goals.

Advances in biosafety, sanitation, stress reduction, and animal husbandry and nutrition form the basis for the application of specific plant molecular strategies (Zeng et al., 2016). This complete overall solution (EIP-AGRI) supports pig production and health, and pushes the pig industry into a future in which the reduction or elimination of antibiotics and the same or increased production of safe pork become a reality.

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