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Animals
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Gut Health in Small Ruminants
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Gut Health in Small Ruminants

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Small Ruminants".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (2 September 2023) | Viewed by 5025

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Juan Alberto Corbera

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Interests: small animals veterinary neurology; small ruminants and camel medicine; trypanosome evansi; camelids nanobodies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Sergio Martín

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canaria, Spain
Interests: ruminants; surgery; internal medicine; livestock; camels; parasitology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Small ruminants are used throughout the world mainly for milk, meat and, to a lesser extent, wool and manure. They are animals that can suffer from numerous pathological processes with different origins: infectious, parasitic, nutritional, hormonal, etc. There are many organs that can be affected and that not only put the lives of animals at serious risk but also reduce their productive capacity.

Specifically, the digestive system of small ruminants, due to its anatomical peculiarities and its role in production, plays a fundamental role in the health and productivity of these animals. Infectious agents, parasites, nutritional factors, environmental factors or poor management, among others, represent the main causes.

We are pleased to invite you to original papers on this type of process, whatever the cause, that affect the small intestines of small ruminants, focusing on their origin, the symptoms they produce or the consequences on production. You can also discuss issues that address problems in the prevention/prophylaxis or treatment of these pathologies.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Juan Alberto Corbera
Dr. Sergio Martín
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • small ruminants
  • gut health
  • intestinal diseases
  • goat
  • sheep

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 4248 KiB  
Article
Contribution to the Knowledge of Gastrointestinal Nematodes in Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) from the Province of León, Spain: An Epidemiological and Molecular Study
by Sara González, María Luisa del Rio, Natividad Díez-Baños, Angélica Martínez and María del Rosario Hidalgo
Animals 2023, 13(19), 3117; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13193117 - 6 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1131
Abstract
A study of gastrointestinal nematodes in roe deer was carried out in the regional hunting reserves of Riaño and Mampodre, Province of León, Spain, to provide information on their prevalence and intensity of infection in relation to the sampling areas, age of the [...] Read more.
A study of gastrointestinal nematodes in roe deer was carried out in the regional hunting reserves of Riaño and Mampodre, Province of León, Spain, to provide information on their prevalence and intensity of infection in relation to the sampling areas, age of the animals, and body weight. Through a regulated necropsy of the animals, all of them harbored gastrointestinal nematodes in their digestive tract, with a mean intensity of parasitism of 638 ± 646.1 nematodes/infected animal. Eleven genera were found and 18 species of gastrointestinal nematodes were identified, three of them polymorphic: Trichostrongylus axei, Trichostrongylus vitrinus, Trichostrongylus capricola, Trichostrongylus colubriformis, Haemonchus contortus, Spiculopteragia spiculoptera/Spiculopteragia mathevossiani, Ostertagia leptospicularis/Ostertagia kolchida, Ostertagia (Grosspiculopteragia) occidentalis, Teladorsagia circumcincta/Teladorsagia trifurcate, Marshallagia marshalli, Nematodirus europaeus, Cooperia oncophora, Capillaria bovis, Oesophagostomum venulosum, and Trichuris ovis. All of them have already been cited in roe deer in Europe, but Marshallagia marshalli, Capillaria bovis, and Ostertagia (Grosspiculopteragia) occidentalis are reported for the first time in Spain in this host. The abomasum was the intestinal section, where the prevalence (98.9%) and mean intensity (x¯ = 370.7 ± 374.4 worms/roe deer; range 3–1762) were significantly higher, but no statistically significant differences were found when comparing the sampling areas and age of animals. The animals with lower body weight had a higher parasite load than those in better physical condition, finding, in this case, statistically significant differences (p = 0.0020). Seven genera and 14 species were identified. In the small intestine, 88% of the animals examined presented gastrointestinal nematodes, with an average intensity of x¯ = 131.7 ± 225.6 parasites/infected animal, ranging between 4–1254 worms. No statistically significant differences were found when the three parameters studied were compared. Four genera and seven species were identified. In the large intestine/cecum, 78.3% of the examined roe deer presented adult worms, with an average intensity of 6.3 ± 5.5 worms/infected animal; range 1–26 worms. Only statistically significant differences were observed when considering the mean intensity of parasitism and the sampling area (p = 0.0093). Two genera and two species were identified. Several of the species found in the study were studied molecularly, and with the sequences obtained compared with those deposited in GenBank, phylogenetic trees were prepared to determine their taxonomic status. Using coprological techniques, the existing correlation in the shedding of gastrointestinal nematode eggs in roe deer was investigated with that of semi-extensive sheep farms in the same study area to verify the existence of cross-transmission of these parasites between wild and domestic animals. The high values found in the studied parameters show that northern Spain is an area of high-intensity infection for roe deer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gut Health in Small Ruminants)
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13 pages, 543 KiB  
Article
Secretory IgA as Biomarker for Gastrointestinal Nematodes Natural Infection in Different Breed Sheep
by Verónica Castilla Gómez de Agüero, Elora Valderas-García, Laura González del Palacio, F. Javier Giráldez, Rafael Balaña-Fouce and María Martínez-Valladares
Animals 2023, 13(13), 2189; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13132189 - 4 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1351
Abstract
Specific IgA antibody has been shown to play an important role in resistance to gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections in sheep, particularly in Teladorsagia circumcincta parasitosis. In some breeds, negative associations have been shown between IgA levels and worm burden in experimentally infected sheep. [...] Read more.
Specific IgA antibody has been shown to play an important role in resistance to gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections in sheep, particularly in Teladorsagia circumcincta parasitosis. In some breeds, negative associations have been shown between IgA levels and worm burden in experimentally infected sheep. In the present study, we have studied the relationship between IgA levels in naturally infected sheep (582 ewes in total; 193 younger than one year old and 389 older than one year old) and fecal egg count (FEC) in the Assaf, Castellana, and Churra breeds. ELISA assays were performed to measure IgA levels against the somatic antigen of T. circumcincta third larval stage (L3) and a 203-amino-acid fragment of the protein disulfide isomerase from the same GIN species. A multilevel random intercept model was developed to predict the infection risk according to age or breed. Spearman’s correlation rank was used for statistical analysis. The prediction model showed that breed was not an influential factor in this study, although the Assaf breed could be considered slightly more susceptible than the others. In addition, age affected the infection risk, with the young ewes more susceptible to infection than the adult groups, except for the Castellana breed, whose risk of infection was similar at all ages. The most significant positive association was found between FEC and IgA measured in the nasal secretions of young ewes using both antigens (Rho = 0.5; p = 0.00); the correlation of FEC with IgA in serum was moderately significant (Rho = 0.306; p = 0.00). Comparing both antigens, the protein disulfide isomerase antigen was less reactive than the somatic antigen from L3. In conclusion, under natural conditions, specific IgA against GIN was positively associated with FEC in sheep, with nasal secretions from young animals being the sample where this association is stronger, which, therefore, could be used as a marker of infection in further studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gut Health in Small Ruminants)
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14 pages, 2620 KiB  
Article
Research on the Gut Microbiota of Hainan Black Goat
by Wenbo Zhi, Kai Tang, Jinsong Yang, Tianshu Yang, Rong Chen, Jiaming Huang, Haisheng Tan, Jianguo Zhao and Zhanwu Sheng
Animals 2022, 12(22), 3129; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12223129 - 13 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2034
Abstract
The intestine of animals is a complex micro-ecosystem containing a large number of microbiomes, which is essential for the host’s health development. The Hainan black goat with good resistance and adaptability is a unique species in Hainan, China. These unique physiological characteristics are [...] Read more.
The intestine of animals is a complex micro-ecosystem containing a large number of microbiomes, which is essential for the host’s health development. The Hainan black goat with good resistance and adaptability is a unique species in Hainan, China. These unique physiological characteristics are inseparable from their intestinal microbiota. In this study, high-throughput sequencing was used to investigate bacterial communities in different segments of the intestinal tract of Hainan black goat. The results showed that the indices of Chao1 and ACE in the cecum and colon were significantly greater than those in the ileum (p = 0.007, 0.018). According to PCoA, the intestinal flora composition of the cecum and colon is almost equivalent. In contexts of the phylum, Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, and Pseudomonadota were the dominant phyla in the gut of the Hainan black goat. While in context of the genus, the dominant groups in the gut of black goats mainly include Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005, Bacteroides, Paeniclostridium, Christensenellaceae_R-7_group, Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group, and Eubacterium coprostanoligenes _group, Prevotella_1, they have different proportions in different intestinal segments. The gut microbiota of Hainan black goat is mainly Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, and Pseudomonadota. Influenced by the intestinal location where they colonize, the large intestine has a more complex intestinal flora than the small intestine. In contrast, there are only minor differences between the caecum and the colon in the large intestine. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gut Health in Small Ruminants)
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