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Dr Paolo Trevisi (Bologna University, Italy) focused on biomarkers of piglet gut health. Intestinal health is an illimited area of research in farm and companion animals. More than the prevention of disease, it can be described as a generalized condition of homeostasis in the GIT, with respect to its overall structure and function. There are four pillars of gut health in farm animals :

Variables of epithelial barrier and digestion, such as gut morphometry (https://animine.eu/research-science-7/) and tight junctions (https://animine.eu/research-science/) can be affected by zinc supplementation. Immune fitness refers to cytokines, immunoglobulines and lymphocytes concentrations. Oxidative status will look at gluthatione, antioxidant enzymes such as trace mineral-dependent catalase and SOD, and MDA concentration. Microbiota balance includes microbial diversity, the abundance of beneficial and harmful bacteria. Alpha diversity is a measure of bacterial ecology that considers bacterial richness and bacterial eveness.

Decreasing in the first days after weaning, microbial diversity increases with the age of the growing pig :