The inclusion of protein hydrolysates from animal by-products in petfood may enhance the industry's sustainability, while contributing to dogs' health due to their nutritional and functional properties. However, inconsistent results of protein hydrolysates on gut microbiota, immune responses, among other health parameters, have been observed in dogs. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of diets supplemented with 5% shrimp hydrolysate, compared to non-supplemented diets, on hematological parameters, serum chemistry profile, innate and adaptive immune function, and fecal microbiota composition in adult Beagle dogs during a 12-week feeding trial.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrends in the pet food industry are driven by the humanization of pets, favoring the inclusion of functional ingredients or supplements that promote animal health. Several commercial diets claim to include supplements with benefits for dogs' immune function, but in vivo evidence that supports their efficacy remains limited. This literature review aimed to better understand the current knowledge on the effects of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients on dogs' immune function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLocally produced fish hydrolysate and oil from the agrifood sector comprises a sustainable solution both to the problem of fish waste disposal and to the petfood sector with potential benefits for the animal's health. This study evaluated the effects of the dietary replacement of mainly imported shrimp hydrolysate (5%) and salmon oil (3%; control diet) with locally produced fish hydrolysate (5%) and oil (3.2%) obtained from fish waste (experimental diet) on systemic inflammation markers, adipokines levels, cardiac function and fecal microbiota of adult dogs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntimicrobial resistance is an old and silent pandemic. Resistant organisms emerge in parallel with new antibiotics, leading to a major global public health crisis over time. Antibiotic resistance may be due to different mechanisms and against different classes of drugs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFErythroferrone is a recently identified erythroid regulator produced by erythroblasts in the mammalian bone marrow and extramedullary sites, known to be induced in conditions of anemia or blood loss. Iron metabolism is affected by erythroferrone through its capacity to inhibit hepcidin production, leading to the increase of iron availability required for erythropoiesis. However, little is known about erythroferrone function in other vertebrates, in particular teleost fish, that unlike mammals, present two different functional types of hepcidin, one type mostly involved in iron metabolism and the other in antimicrobial response.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe current treatments applied in aquaculture to limit disease dissemination are mostly based on the use of antibiotics, either as prophylactic or therapeutic agents, with vaccines being available for a limited number of fish species and pathogens. Antimicrobial peptides are considered as promising novel substances to be used in aquaculture, due to their antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activities. Hepcidin, the major iron metabolism regulator, is found as a single gene in most mammals, but in certain fish species, including the European sea bass (), two different hepcidin types are found, with specialized roles: the single type 1 hepcidin is involved in iron homeostasis trough the regulation of ferroportin, the only known iron exporter; and the various type 2 hepcidins present antimicrobial activity against a number of different pathogens.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmaceuticals (Basel)
June 2021
Beta-defensins consist in a group of cysteine-rich antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), widely found throughout vertebrate species, including teleost fish, with antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activities. However, although the European sea bass () is one of the most commercially important farmed fish species in the Mediterranean area, the characterization of its beta-defensins and its potential applications are still missing. In this study, we characterized two members of the beta-defensin family in this species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFish rely on their innate immune responses to cope with the challenging aquatic environment, with antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) being one of the first line of defenses. Piscidins are a group of fish specific AMPs isolated in several species. However, in the European sea bass ( ), the piscidin family remains poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrypanosomiasis is a parasitic disease affecting both humans and animals in the form of Human African Trypanosomiasis and Nagana disease, respectively. Anemia is one of the most common symptoms of trypanosomiasis, and if left unchecked can cause severe complications and even death. Several factors have been associated with the development of this anemia, including dysregulation of iron homeostasis, but little is known about the molecular mechanisms involved.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany studies have assessed the effects of incorporation of plant feedstuffs in fish diets on growth performance, whereas few studies have addressed the effects of fish meal replacement by plant protein sources on fish immune parameters. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects on immune response of different inclusion levels of carob seed germ meal (CSGM) as partial replacement for fish meal in diets for meagre (Argyrosomus regius) juveniles. Fish were fed four experimental diets with increased CSGM inclusion levels [0% (control), 7.
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