Linking pig and human gut health
13 December 2019
Last update: 19/12/19 09:26
On behalf of the scientific and organising commitees of the 14th International Symposium of the Digestive Physiology of Pigs, we are delighted to introduce this Special Topic: Digestive Physiology of Pigs 2018 in animal.
There is a lot of interest in the microbiota at the moment and everyone seems to have some belief about foods or ingredients that can encourage the “healthy bacteria” in the gut. The truth is that while there is no doubt that having a healthy population of gut bacteria can reduce the incidence of gut disorders we are still a long way from understanding how to promote and maintain populations of these healthy bacteria. A lot of knowledge about gut function and health has been derived in pigs since they are omnivorous and have a very similar gut to humans. Anyone curious about gut health will find a special compilation of invited papers presented at the 14th Digestive Physiology of Pigs of interest.
One of the papers reviews the complex interaction between stress, stress hormones and the microbiota and demonstrates that not only can stress impact on the pig it can also impact the composition of bacteria in the gut. Similarly, gut bacteria can produce chemicals very similar to the neurotransmitters that are produced by animals, including pigs and humans. Another review further explores the interaction between the gut and brain and using brain-imaging techniques is able to show how different areas of the brain “light up” in response to food signals such as sweet and bitter stimuli. These researchers also looked at the impact of obesity on the brain activity and metabolism and they draw parallels between obese pigs and humans. Other researchers extend this theme and talk about the network of receptors associated with the gut endocrine system and gut peptide secretion. Some of the genetic variation in gut chemosensing may also contribute to variations in food choices and appetite.
These are just snippets of interesting areas covered in the invited reviews and we invite you to explore these papers further.
Read the Special Topic: Digestive Physiology of Pigs 2018 Editorial here published in Volume 13, Issue 11, November 2019.
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