Heinze Sophie-Kristin, Zentek Jürgen, Büttner Kathrin, Moritz Andreas, Paßlack Nadine
Clinic for Small Animals, Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.
Chair for Animal Nutrition and Dietetics, Department of Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
BMC Vet Res. 2025 Aug 5;21(1):504. doi: 10.1186/s12917-025-04945-z.
Insect meals are increasingly being used as an ingredient in diets for dogs. However, little is known about their effects on the immune function of the animals. In the present investigation, mealworm meal was included in two complete diets with either a moderate or a high protein concentration (3.47% or 5.45% nitrogen in dry matter). Two diets with comparable protein levels (3.66% and 5.17% nitrogen in dry matter), but based on poultry by-product meal, served as control treatments. The diets were offered to 10 healthy adult beagle dogs, using a randomized crossover design. Each diet was fed for 4 weeks. Fasting blood samples were collected on day 24 of each feeding period for immune cell phenotyping, proliferation and phagocytosis assays, as well as for the measurement of plasma immunoglobulin (Ig) concentrations.
All dogs remained healthy throughout the study. The percentages of CD4 cells in the blood of the dogs were lower, and the percentages of CD8 cells were higher, when the diets with mealworm meal and the high-protein diets were fed. An interaction effect between the dietary protein source and protein level could be detected for the phagocytic activity of blood granulocytes as well as for the plasma concentrations of IgA and IgE.
Both the protein source and protein level had an impact on the immune system of the dogs. The observed immunological changes were, however, not linked to any adverse food reactions, suggesting that the clinical relevance of these findings is likely small. Further studies should evaluate the immunological properties of dietary mealworm meal also in diseased animals, particularly in allergic dogs.
昆虫粉越来越多地被用作犬粮的一种成分。然而，关于它们对动物免疫功能的影响却知之甚少。在本研究中，黄粉虫粉被添加到两种蛋白质浓度适中或较高（干物质中氮含量分别为3.47%或5.45%）的全价日粮中。另外两种日粮（干物质中氮含量分别为3.66%和5.17%）蛋白质水平相当，但以家禽副产品粉为基础，用作对照处理。采用随机交叉设计，将这些日粮喂给10只健康的成年比格犬。每种日粮喂养4周。在每个喂养期的第24天采集空腹血样，用于免疫细胞表型分析、增殖和吞噬试验，以及血浆免疫球蛋白（Ig）浓度的测定。
在整个研究过程中，所有犬只均保持健康。当饲喂含黄粉虫粉的日粮和高蛋白日粮时，犬只血液中CD4细胞的百分比降低，CD8细胞的百分比升高。在血液粒细胞的吞噬活性以及IgA和IgE的血浆浓度方面，可以检测到日粮蛋白质来源和蛋白质水平之间的相互作用。
蛋白质来源和蛋白质水平均对犬只的免疫系统有影响。然而，观察到的免疫变化与任何不良食物反应均无关联，这表明这些发现的临床相关性可能较小。进一步的研究应评估日粮黄粉虫粉在患病动物，特别是过敏性犬只中的免疫特性。
