Pathogenesis and Nutritional Intervention of Gut-Brain Inflammation in Fish

Dear Colleagues,

With the increase in global population, the production of animal proteins becomes increasingly crucial. Aquaculture is a major producer of animal protein for human consumption. Intensive culture systems are usually employed to increase production, but fish often suffer infection and stress in such systems, resulting in impaired growth and poor health conditions. Intestinal inflammation is one of the most common diseases of fish in intensive farming. Inflammation and dysbiosis are so tightly intertwined that inflammation may contribute to or result from the dysregulation of gut microbiota. Moreover, gut dysbiosis, leading to a leaky intestinal barrier, increases the efflux of undigested food, microbes, endotoxins, as well as immune-competent cells and molecules, causing alterations of the blood–brain barrier and triggering neuroinflammation. Different fishes have been presented as good experimental models not only to improve our understanding of intestinal and central inflammation mechanisms, but also providing a tool to test novel approaches for the treatment of inflammatory diseases in aquacultural animals.

Measures for ensuring the health of fish in aquaculture protect the health of the animals’ intestinal barriers. The local immunity of the intestine is associated with the innate and adaptive immunity of fishes’ entire bodies. Thus, it is necessary to understand the interaction between the gut microbiota and the general immune system, as well as the most important reasons that can increase or suppress intestinal immunity. Moreover, while the intestine–brain interplay is an important parameter in fishes’ wellbeing and health status, it is also necessary to understand the gut-brain axis activity. Through some strategies, it is possible to protect fish from disease by providing balanced food that maintains intestinal health and improves digestion, thereby increasing immunity. Additionally, natural substances of plant origin which are rich in bioactive molecules (phytochemicals) have been proved to be able to reduce inflammation and improve general health status. Awareness of this correlation between diet and gut-brain health is expected to aid the aquaculture industry in developing proper nutritional strategies that ensure the protection of fish health.

In this Special Issue, we intend to focus on the use of feed and feed additives to strengthen the immune function, intestinal barrier function and gut-brain axis in aquatic animals. We invite authors to contribute to this Special Issue with papers on this theme or related research topics in order to improve our knowledge of the role of nutritional intervention in the immunity of fish, and to propose innovative solutions to improve the immune system, prevent intestinal inflammation, and develop targeted dietary interventions.

Dr. Roberta Imperatore
Dr. Elena Coccia
Guest Editors

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• intestinal inflammation
• gut microbiota
• gut barrier
• gut-brain axis
• neuroinflammation
• nutrition
• feed additives