ARTICLE 62 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE March 2023 A NEW PERSPECTIVE IN GUT–BRAIN AXIS: PAY MORE ATTENTION TO POSTBIOTIC “The gut–brain axis (GBA) refers to the bidirectional communication system between the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system. There are two ways for the improvement of the GBA function, either adding probiotics in the diet, which could produce the right metabolites in the gut, or directly adding right metabolites in the diet to facilitate the GBA, the second approach is also called ‘Postbiotic’.” The gut–brain axis (GBA) refers to the bidirectional communication system between the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system (CNS); it plays a responsible role in mediating neural, immunological, and hormonal signaling. This complex system allows the gut to influence the brain through visceral or animal instincts messages. These visceral messages carried out by the metabolites from cells of the animal itself or gut microbes interact with the enteric nervous system to transduce signals into the brain. In response, signals from the brain influence the gut functions (motor, sensory, and secretory modalities) and immune function (Graph 1). This dual interaction between the gut and the brain not only influences gut physiology but can also provide various health benefits for both human as well as the animals that are raised as food or pets. Based on the above understanding, there are two ways for the improvement of the GBA function, either adding probiotics in the diet, which could produce the right metabolites in the gut, or directly adding right metabolites in the diet to facilitate the GBA, the second approach is also called “Postbiotic”. Many research articles and commercial products are available, and Table 1 lists few examples. I used the term “microbiota” for probiotic, meaning the product is a live cell or the spore of the cell, which could survive and produce the correct metabolites in the gut. Metabolites, or postbiotic is the feed additive which is produced by a probiotic by using fermentation technology. Although both microbiota and the metabolites used for GBA modulation are effective and encouraging, there are differences in terms of active ingredients, quality control by end-users and safety issues between these two kinds of products. Microbiota are live cells or the spores of probiotic bacteria, they are supposed to produce the right metabolites in gastrointestinal track of animal but the disadvantages would be the followings: (1) active ingredient produced inside the gut may not be appropriate in quantity, (2) difficult to do quality control by end-users, (3) may have safety issues if the critiNatthanan Nukitrangsan, PhD Technical Support Consultant CP-BIO
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