It said research trials with shrimp and other species show the yeast supplement, which originally was targeted only at the monogastric and ruminant sectors, may lower morbidity and help with performance in high stress production systems at an application rate of 0.1 to 0.2% of complete feed.
In September, this publication reported on how that yeast product, which contains a mixture of partially fermented yeast (Pichia guilliermondii) left following citric acid extraction from the yeast culture, is part of the portfolio of products ADM is rolling out in collaboration with additives from Austria’s Animal Nutrition Competence (ANCO).
The two companies have developed a customizable feed platform to help “mitigate many on-farm stressors that negatively affect a farmer’s bottom line.”
Demand is higher for the additive outside of the US, said Peter Bergstrom, international business manager at ADM: “With steady sales of Citristim in the US, recent sales growth can be attributed to international markets,” he told us.
Immunity boost
Meanwhile, at EuroTier in Hannover, we caught up with Dr Manfred Peisker, ADM’s European nutrition director for specialty ingredients, who said the company is conducting further research to nail down exactly how the supplement impacts animal immunity: “We know that it acts on the innate immune system, but we are exploring whether it acts on the acquired immune system as well."
Two papers in Poultry Science, he said, describe the modulating effect of the yeast product on the immune system “depending on the direction the balance needs to be tipped”.
In one study, he said, the researchers observed that in unchallenged birds, the addition of Citristim led to an increase of regulatory T-cells and IL 10 - an anti-inflammatory effect - and a decrease in IL1 - pro-inflammatory - (Poultry Sci. 91_107).
“Since Pichia guilliermondii act increase IL 10 in non-challenged situations, the yeast product may thus help to suppress the immune system, sparing energy for the host,” said Peisker.
In challenged birds, researchers saw the yeast product increased nitrite oxide (NO) production and IL1 and down-regulated IL10 (Poultry Sci. 92), he said.
In that coccidial challenged study, the researchers, based at Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center and ADM, concluded that whole yeast cell product supplementation increased the jejunal villi height to crypt depth ratio, an effect that “can be expected to improve nutrient absorption and to improve production parameters.”
They found whole yeast cell product supplementation improved body weight (BW) gain and feed efficiency postcoccidial infection.
Further explaining their findings, the authors said: “Supplementation of whole yeast cell products, in the absence of any pathogen challenge, increases the IL-10 mRNA amount and Treg population in the cecal tonsils of birds (Shanmugasundaram and Selvaraj, 2012a).
“Treg percentage and IL-10 production in gut-associated lymphoid tissues are very sensitive to gut microbiota. In the absence of infection, higher IL-10 production and Treg numbers in the gut will facilitate immune tolerance.
“In the presence of pathogenic bacteria, an inflammatory response mediated by Th17 cells predominates (Ivanov et al., 2009) and Tregs lose their suppressive properties and IL-10 production (Shanmugasundaram and Selvaraj, 2011; Shanmugasundaram and Selvaraj,2012b).
“Thus, during coccidiosis, the intestinal physiology can be expected to downregulate the IL-10 mRNA to facilitate an effective anticoccidial immune response.”