ISSUE FOCUS 38 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE February 2023 INTRODUCTION Currently, the term "gut health" is, without any doubt, one of the most widely used expressions in animal nutrition for both scientific and marketing purposes. We could think that it is just a “trendy” concept, however the gastrointestinal tract (gut) and its health status really play a key role in the proper physiological development of animals and, in the end, in their growth and performance. WHATDOES “GUTHEALTH” REALLYMEAN? In short, gut health is the organizing balance between the different components of the gastrointestinal tract (epithelial structure and function, gut microbiota, feed digestion and nutrient absorption, mucosal immune system, gut-associated lymphoid tissue -GALT-, and enteric nervous system), regardless of the presence or absence of gastrointestinal disorders. Many animal scientists and nutritionists have attempted to define "gut health" in recent years, but there are primarily two comprehensive definitions. Kogut and Arsenault (2016) described it as the “absence/prevention/avoidance of disease so that the animal is able to perform its physiological functions in order to withstand exogenous and endogenous stressors”. However, Pluske et al (2018) went one step further and defined it as a “generalized condition of homeostasis in the gastrointestinal tract, with respect to its overall structure and function”. The novelty and relevance of the second definition lies in the fact that gut health in animals can be compromised even "GUT HEALTH" IN ANIMALS, THE UBIQUITOUS TERM IN ANIMAL NUTRITION ”During the first days or weeks of life, depending on the animal species, the immature gut of young animals goes through growth and development rates much higher than those of the rest of the body, to become a so-called “supply” organ that provides nutrients to the body for the rest of the animal’s life...” Nicolas Anglade Category Manager Ruminant Hamlet Protein Alfred Blanch Category Manager Poultry Hamlet Protein Jessika Van Leeuwen Category Manager Swine Hamlet Protein
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