Chen Siyu, Luo Shuyan, Yan Chao
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Molecular Design and Precise Breeding, School of Life Science and Engineering, Foshan University, Foshan 528225, China.
Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen 518124, China.
Animals (Basel). 2021 Dec 31;12(1):93. doi: 10.3390/ani12010093.
In the past few decades, farm animal health and welfare have been paid increasing concern worldwide. Farm animal health and welfare are generally assessed by the measurements of physical health, immune response, behavior, and physiological indicators. The gut microbiota has been reported to have a great influence on host phenotypes, possibly via the immune processes, neural functions, and endocrine pathways, thereby influencing host phenotypes. However, there are few reviews regarding farm animals' health and welfare status concerning the gut microbiota. In this point of view, (1) we reviewed recent studies showing that gut microbiota (higher alpha diversity, beneficial composition, and positive functions) effectively influenced health characteristics, immunity, behaviors, and stress response in farm animals (such as pigs, chickens, and cows), which would provide a novel approach to measure and evaluate the health status and welfare of farm animals. In addition, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) as one of the methods can modulate the recipient individual's gut microbiota to realize the expected phenotype. Further, (2) we highlighted the application of FMT on the improvement of the production performance, the reduction in disease and abnormal behavior, as well as the attenuation of stress in farm animals. It is concluded that the gut microbiota can be scientifically used to assess and improve the welfare of farm animals. Moreover, FMT may be a helpful strategy to reduce abnormal behavior and improve stress adaption, as well as the treatment of disease for farm animals. This review suggests that gut microbiota is a promising field to evaluate and improve animal welfare.
在过去几十年里，农场动物的健康和福利在全球范围内受到了越来越多的关注。农场动物的健康和福利通常通过身体健康、免疫反应、行为和生理指标的测量来评估。据报道，肠道微生物群可能通过免疫过程、神经功能和内分泌途径对宿主表型产生重大影响，从而影响宿主表型。然而，关于肠道微生物群对农场动物健康和福利状况的综述却很少。从这个角度来看，（1）我们回顾了最近的研究，这些研究表明肠道微生物群（更高的α多样性、有益的组成和积极的功能）有效地影响了农场动物（如猪、鸡和牛）的健康特征、免疫力、行为和应激反应，这将为测量和评估农场动物的健康状况和福利提供一种新方法。此外，粪便微生物群移植（FMT）作为一种方法可以调节受体个体的肠道微生物群以实现预期的表型。进一步地，（2）我们强调了FMT在提高农场动物生产性能、减少疾病和异常行为以及减轻应激方面的应用。得出的结论是，肠道微生物群可以科学地用于评估和改善农场动物的福利。此外，FMT可能是一种有助于减少异常行为、改善应激适应以及治疗农场动物疾病的策略。这篇综述表明，肠道微生物群是评估和改善动物福利的一个有前景的领域。
