Recent Advances in Understanding the Influence of Zinc, Copper, and Manganese on the Gastrointestinal Environment of Pigs and Poultry
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Gut Health Consultancy, Exeter EX14 1QY, Devon, UK
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Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
3
Animine, 10 Rue Léon Rey-Grange, 74960 Annecy, France
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Claudio Forte and Francesca Romana Massacci
Animals 2021, 11(5), 1276; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051276
Received: 16 March 2021
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Revised: 24 April 2021
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Accepted: 26 April 2021
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Published: 29 April 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modify Gastrointestinal Environment in Livestock to Contrast and Prevent Pathogens Infections and Dysbiosis: Focus on Microbiota)
Simple Summary
Pigs and poultry, similar to humans, need regular consumption of zinc, copper, and manganese for normal functioning. To ensure adequate dietary intake, and prevent deficiency, their diets are supplemented with sufficient, often excessive, levels of these minerals or even at higher levels, which have been associated with improvements in their health and/or growth. However, if provided in excess, mineral quantities beyond those required are simply excreted from the animal, which is associated with negative consequences for the environment and even the development of antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, it is of great interest to better understand the dynamics of zinc, copper, and manganese in the intestine of pigs and poultry following consumption of supplemented diets, and how the requirements and benefits related to these minerals can be optimized and negative impacts minimized. The intestine of pigs and poultry contains vast numbers of microorganisms, notably bacteria, that continually interact with, and influence, their host. This review explores the influence of zinc, copper, and manganese on these interactions and how novel forms of these minerals have the potential to maximize their delivery and benefits, while limiting any negative consequences.
Zinc, copper, and manganese are prominent essential trace (or micro) minerals, being required in small, but adequate, amounts by pigs and poultry for normal biological functioning. Feed is a source of trace minerals for pigs and poultry but variable bioavailability in typical feed ingredients means that supplementation with low-cost oxides and sulphates has become common practice. Such trace mineral supplementation often provides significant ‘safety margins’, while copper and zinc have been supplemented at supra-nutritional (or pharmacological) levels to improve health and/or growth performance. Regulatory mechanisms ensure that much of this oversupply is excreted by the host into the environment, which can be toxic to plants and microorganisms or promote antimicrobial resistance in microbes, and thus supplying trace minerals more precisely to pigs and poultry is necessary. The gastrointestinal tract is thus central to the maintenance of trace mineral homeostasis and the provision of supra-nutritional or pharmacological levels is associated with modification of the gut environment, such as the microbiome. This review, therefore, considers recent advances in understanding the influence of zinc, copper, and manganese on the gastrointestinal environment of pigs and poultry, including more novel, alternative sources seeking to maintain supra-nutritional benefits with minimal environmental impact.
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Keywords:
copper; manganese; zinc; pig; poultry; gut health; intestine; trace mineral; microbiome
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Broom, L.J.; Monteiro, A.; Piñon, A. Recent Advances in Understanding the Influence of Zinc, Copper, and Manganese on the Gastrointestinal Environment of Pigs and Poultry. Animals 2021, 11, 1276. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051276
AMA Style
Broom LJ, Monteiro A, Piñon A. Recent Advances in Understanding the Influence of Zinc, Copper, and Manganese on the Gastrointestinal Environment of Pigs and Poultry. Animals. 2021; 11(5):1276. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051276
Chicago/Turabian StyleBroom, Leon J., Alessandra Monteiro, and Arturo Piñon. 2021. "Recent Advances in Understanding the Influence of Zinc, Copper, and Manganese on the Gastrointestinal Environment of Pigs and Poultry" Animals 11, no. 5: 1276. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051276
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