丁酸和肠道健康

肠道健康直接影响动物生产性能. 尽管肠道健康没有明确的定义, 在大多数情况下，专家会参考不同的功能，包括:

• 营养物质的消化和吸附
• 稳定的微生物
• 最佳屏障功能(黏液层发育和上皮细胞完整性)
• 没有疾病和感染
• 有效的免疫系统
• 一般的幸福

1. 通过向上皮细胞提供能量直接影响上皮功能, 辅助电解质输送, 调节pH值
2. Promoting mucus production and hence supporting the stability of the barrier between epithelial cells and the outside
3. 通过支持上皮细胞完整性影响肠屏障功能, 减少磁导率, 促进紧密连接表达
4. 积极影响粘膜免疫功能
5. 诱导抗菌蛋白(防御素和抗菌素)的表达
6. Affecting the enteric nervous system with an apparent impact on the motility of the epithelial cells

• 对动物免疫功能有积极影响
• 上皮细胞功能增强
• 病原体数量的减少
• An overall positive effect all along the gastrointestinal tract as described in recent reviews on the use of butyric acid in poultry production

The use of butyric acid in poultry production is well-established and its effects on performance are well-known, 但它的效果还能进一步改善吗?

戊酸:缺失的部分?

尽管valeric, isovaleric and 2-methylbutyric acid are also produced in the gastrointestinal tract by the microbiota, they have not been nearly as well researched as some of their SCFA and branched fatty acid peers. Among these acids, valeric acid has been gaining attention, especially for human medicine. 关于戊酸在肠道健康和总体健康中的作用的研究正在进行中, 但多亏了体外研究, 小鼠研究, and epidemiological observations we know for example that valeric acid can prevent inflammation as well as maintain gut integrity. Low levels of valeric acid in humans have been linked with different diseases such as neurodermitis in children. 另外, valeric acid has been particularly investigated because of its property as a histone deacetylases inhibitor (HDI). HDIs are used in psychiatry and neurology but are gaining more and more interest for the treatment of cancers, 寄生虫感染和炎症性疾病.
戊 acid (in its esterified form) has been shown to exert positive results in poultry production. 肉鸡肠道结构改善, increasing GLP-2 production which is considered to play an important role in promoting intestinal growth and enhancing intestinal function, 从而获得更好的性能. Another study reported the beneficial effect of valeric acid on reducing the impact (lesion scoring and mortality) of a Clostridium perfringens challenge, 与酯化丁酸相比，保持良好的性能水平. 

利用协同效应提高绩效

在西班牙(IMASDE)进行的一项试验中，792只雄性肉鸡(罗斯308 DOC), 12 replicate pens per treatment and 22 birds per pen) the effects of a product combining valeric acid and butyric acid in esterified form (Gastrivix™Avi) were compared to using sole tributyrins and a control group without any feed additive used. Gastrivix™Avi显著改善最终体重, average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (货物收据) compared to the control group by 7.1%, 7.分别为4%和8个百分点. Gastrivix™Avi numerically improved final body weight and ADG, and statistically improved 货物收据 by 3.8%, 3.与只服用三丁酸甘油酯组相比，减少了9%和6个百分点(表1)。. Both numerical and statistical improvements were reported for the Gastrivix™Avi group compared to both the control group and the tributyrins group in each single feeding phase. 
In this trial Gastrivix™Avi proved to be an excellent feed additive to improve the performance of broilers. 另外, the data suggests that combining esters of butyric acid with esters of valeric acid (Gastrivix™Avi) shows beneficial effects compared to the use of sole esters of butyric acid when used for the purpose of improving broiler performance.

表1. Performance results from a trial in broilers (Ross 308 DOC) performed in Spain (IMASDE) in 2021

The use of Gastrivix™Avi shows consistent improvements in performance in terms of body weight and 货物收据 (displayed in 图1) over all the scientific and semi-scientific trials run so far with the product. The average improvement over the eight trials is 4 points in 货物收据 resulting in a good return on investment for the product and hence an economic benefit. 因为所有生产商目前都面临着不断上涨的十大正规网堵平台价格, Gastrivix™Avi可以成为支持肠道完整性和性能的工具.

图1. 改进 of 货物收据 in broilers fed diets containing Gastrivix™Avi compared to a control group fed a diet containing no additives. The trials were run by Perstorp in cooperation with different partners between 2019 and 2021

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