Systematic Review of the Interaction between Nutrition and Immunity in Livestock: Effect of Dietary Supplementation with Synthetic Amino Acids

Abstract

Infectious diseases represent one of the most critical threats to animal production worldwide. Due to the rise of pathogen resistance and consumer concern about chemical-free and environmentally friendly productions, the use of antimicrobials drugs is no longer desirable. The close relationship between nutrition and infection has led to numerous studies about livestock. The impact of feeding strategies, including synthetic amino acid supplementation, on host response to various infections has been investigated in different livestock animals. This systematic review provides a synthesis of the experimental studies on the interactions between synthetic amino acid supplementation and immune response to infectious diseases in livestock. Following PRISMA guidelines, quantitative research was conducted using two literature databases, PubMed and Web of Science. The eligibility criteria for the research articles were: (1) the host is a livestock animal; (2) the supplementation with at least one synthetic amino acid; (3) at least one mediator of immunity is measured; (4) at least one production trait is measured. Data were extracted from 58 selected studies. Articles on poultry were the most numerous; few contained experiments using ruminants and pigs. Most of the authors hypothesized that synthetic amino acid supplementation would particularly improve the animals’ immune response against intracellular pathogens. An increase in T and natural killer lymphocytes and macrophages activation, intracellular redox state, lymphocytes proliferation and antibodies production were the most described immune mechanisms associated with synthetic amino acid supplementation. Most of the selected studies focused on three amino acids (methionine, threonine and arginine), all of which are associated with a significant improvement of the host immune response. The use of synthetic amino acid supplementation appears as an encouraging perspective for livestock infectious disease management, and research must concentrate on more analytical studies using these three amino acids.