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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Food and Feed Safety Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #419086

Research Project: Immunological and Practical Approaches to Manipulate the Ecological Niches and Reduce Foodborne Pathogens in Poultry

Location: Food and Feed Safety Research

Title: Epithelial water transport and environmental moisture on poultry gut health and disease

Author
item FERNANDEZ-MIYAKAWA, MARIANO - Instituto Nacional De Tecnologia Agropecuaria
item Kogut, Michael

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/3/2024
Publication Date: 7/26/2024
Citation: Fernandez-Miyakawa, M.E., Kogut, M.H. 2024. Epithelial water transport and environmental moisture on poultry gut health and disease. In: Fernandez-Miyakawa, M.E., Kogut, M.H., editors. Environmental effects on gut health in production animals. Lieden, NL: Koninklijke Brill BV. p. 273-303.

Interpretive Summary: Poultry farmers are interested in profit, and solutions to problems that affect that profit. Gut problems and the loss of intestinal integrity are potentially very important in maximizing that profit, as the intestinal tract is the interface between a whole range of feed ingredients and water taken in by the bird and their conversion into saleable meat. When performing an analysis on a poultry farm, it is often neglected or underestimated the importance of knowing the variables related to water quality, consumption, function in the bird. In poultry production, water should be considered an important factor of production as well as facilities, genetics, nutrition, and health. The loss of the barrier function of the gut (physical separation of the outside environment and the inside of the chick) not only affects the overall health of the chick, but also results I difficulties in maintaining fluid balance inside the chick, leading welfare issues of the birds due to diarrhea resulting in wet litter. Wet litter provides an excellent environment for the growth of germs that can cause disease in the birds, but that can also contaminate the chicken meat that humans eat. The maintenance of intestinal integrity must be a cornerstone of effective poultry production. There are a multitude of different challenges, be they infectious, nutritional, managemental or environmental, which can disturb that integrity. There are no easy or single answers, but it is important that producers try to do everything they are doing just a little bit better, and for all 'stakeholders' to take a holistic view by looking at the whole range of factors involved and to attempt to influence the things that they can influence to aid progress.

Technical Abstract: Modern poultry production has reached very high levels of efficiency and competitiveness that largely depend on more demanding management. The digestive system, and particularly the intestine, is key to reaching optimal efficiency levels. Water, the main nutrient of animals, and its homeostasis, has direct and indirect influences on animal health since it affects the establishment of the intestinal and environmental microbiota, the development of diseases, immunity, and the digestive and nutrient absorption processes, and strongly influencing the productivity of the animals. The gastrointestinal tract absorbs a large volume of fluids daily and this transport of water through the intestine is closely related to the movement of solutes, primarily associated with the transport of ions. Any disturbance in the gastrointestinal tract creates the potential for a large loss of total body water and electrolytes. In birds, the available information suggests that intestinal ion transport adapts efficiently to alterations in nutrition and the environment, but for example there is little information regarding the pathophysiological processes in birds of many infections that produce intestinal imbalances, including common pathogens such as Salmonella or C. perfringens. Dysregulation of normal ion transport in the bird intestine manifests as diarrhea, malabsorption, and intestinal inflammation, resulting in poor production efficiency. The role of the tight junction is important in all these processes, although there are discrepancies regarding its role in the initial step of development of inflammatory processes that can lead to deregulation of intestinal homeostasis, as well as its importance in the processes of nutrient absorption in birds compared to mammals. A better understanding of the normal and pathological interaction of water and ion balance in the intestine, together with the regulation of the epithelial barrier during digestive, infectious, and inflammatory processes, will help us to optimize the management of poultry in intensive farming to maximize gut health, well-being, and production.