Oorsig/Review
Unlocking Solutions to
Chronic Inflammation
By Adam Geiger, Ph.D., dairy research nutritionist
Marco Rebollo, DVM, poultry research specialist and
Mark Wilson, Ph.D., swine reproductive physiologist, Zinpro Corporation
Inflammation is a natural and essential
component of the immune response to infection,
pathogens and/or tissue damage. While often
considered a negative reaction, inflammation
serves as a protective response to pathogens or
tissue damage. It also promotes blood flow and
immune cell recruitment to the insult site, which
assists the animal in eliminating the initial cause
of injury and promotes affected tissue recovery.
While an appropriate inflammatory response is
necessary, excessive or prolonged inflammation
can become detrimental to the animal in
many ways. Animals suffering from chronic,
prolonged inflammation may be unable to mount
a successful immune response in the future.
Chronic inflammation also pulls nutrients and
energy away from other key functions within the
animal such as growth, reproduction, and meat,
milk or egg production. An animal undergoing
an inflammatory response can easily lose more
than one kilogram of energy (glucose) to the
immune system in a day. This energy could be
used for performance and production. Based on
this loss alone, it can be argued that ameliorating
an inflammatory response when possible needs
to be a top priority for animal agriculture.
Given the recent trend in many countries to move
away from antibiotic use, methods to effectively
manage and minimize inflammation are
becoming increasingly important. Many potential
dietary ingredients, including trace minerals, are
now being promoted as alternatives to antibiotics
in order to enhance animal wellness and
performance in poultry, swine, and dairy and beef
cattle. Since inflammation is intertwined with the
immune response, conditions and feedstuffs or
ingredients that help modulate the inflammatory
response, and subsequent immune function, are
vital to animal agriculture. Trace minerals are
essential to all living creatures, and production
animals are no exception. Recent data has shown
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the benefit trace minerals provide to immune
responses and associated inflammation (Chirase
et al., 1994; Percival et al., 1998; Underwood and
Suttle, 1999; Gaylean et al., 1999; Hudson et al.,
2004; Kellogg et al., 2004; Enjalbert et al., 2006;
Jahanian et al., 2008; Siciliano-Jones et al., 2008;
Rabiee et al., 2010). How well a diet meets an
animal’s trace mineral needs will vary by not only
the amount of trace minerals consumed, but also
by trace mineral source, level of antagonists in the
diet and stress. Feeding complexed organic trace
minerals has been heavily researched in many
production species. Extensive peer-reviewed
research has shown this unique trace mineral
category, known as Performance Trace Minerals,
to significantly improve livestock and poultry
wellness and performance by minimizing the
effects from both antagonists and stress on trace
mineral availability. This review will highlight
the role they plays in the immune response and
mitigation of chronic inflammation.
INFLAMMATION AND THE INNATE
IMMUNE SYSTEM
Inflammation and the Skin
The first line of defense against a threat to
immunity is epithelial tissue. Commonly referred
to as the largest immune organ, skin bears the
constant burden of protecting a body’s internal
organs from damage and invading pathogens
In ruminants, the importance of skin integrity to
overall health is also well documented. One such
area susceptible to invading organisms is the skin
region near the hoof horn. Of particular interest
is the disorder known as digital dermatitis.
Acute (M2) digital dermatitis typically appears
as a bright-red, active lesion on the skin
above the heel bulb, and is caused by a host of
bacteria invading the area when skin integrity is
compromised. In particular, anaerobic bacteria
(Spirochetes), such as Treponema species may