13 May 2021 - The animal nutrition industry has long been interested in increasing digestibility of feed raw materials by addressing the properties of the feed—breaking down anti-nutrients, for example.
However, animal nutrition specialists Pathway Intermediates are championing another approach to digestibility, one which they claim might be as fundamental a step forward in animal nutrition as the introduction of enzymes.
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“Rather than focusing on improving the digestion of the nutrients like carbohydrates or releasing phosphorus from phytate included in the ration, lysophospholipids reinforce, or enhance if you will, the biological process of absorption through the intestinal wall,” asserts Dr. Peter Windhausen, Marketing and Sales Director at Pathway Intermediates. “More of any diet will pass into the blood stream and become available to the animal rather than being excreted. Improving and maintaining this process in a sustainable and cost-effective way is therefore a key element in the production of animal protein.” |
Dr. Peter Windhausen |
This concept, which the company refers to as “absorption accelerators,” is the basis for its flagship product, Lipidol. It grew out of a UK-based partnership dating back two decades between a cancer biologist, Dr. David Garnett, and a mathematician, Dr. Robin Jones. They originally focused on the structure of the cell membrane and its components, for the purposes of improving the passage of drugs through the intestinal wall. In this context, they began to explore the application of a novel technology based on lysophospholipids to improve the absorption of nutrients.
Turning this technology to animal nutrition came when Pathway Intermediates joined Korean agribusiness company EASY BIO in 2011 (more recently, the Korean company decided to extend the Pathway Intermediates name to the whole of its animal nutrition activities worldwide, including not only the main pillars in the UK and South Korea, but also subsidiaries in Thailand, Vietnam, and the United States.) “Nutritionists have spent the past few decades refining the nutritional requirements of animals, from basic feed formulation to modern precision nutrition. However, not much attention has been spent on the absorption of the digested feed. This was the starting point for the development of Pathway’s absorption accelerators,” recounts Dr. Windhausen.
“With collaboration between Pathway’s research hubs in the UK and in South Korea, it became clear that a blend of products was the future for an efficient accelerator. Using Pathway’s UK-based NMR spectrometer to investigate compounds such as lysophosphatidylcholine, and research their effectiveness, was key. Over decades of research, Pathway has published many papers on the effectiveness of Lipidol on micelle formation, membrane insertion, growth performance, and total diet sustainability.”
Today, absorption accelerators are used in all kinds of animals, including aquatic species. Going forward, Dr. Windhausen states, “Pathway’s extensive experience in this particular area allows us to develop new lysophospholipids products with additional features, for example with a further positive effect on gut health. Products here in the UK lab are under evaluation already, and EU registration will be initiated shortly.”
What’s next?
Beyond lysophospholipids, the company has also been steadily expanding its portfolio into other aspects of gut health, and is now bringing products, which it has previously launched in America and Asia, to European customers as well. “One, for example, is a yeast product which supports the natural innate immunity of animals, and makes them more resistant to withstand immune stress. Another one will be a product containing chitosan and chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) which positively impacts the cholesterol metabolism and which could, for example, alleviate the occurrence of Fatty Liver Haemorrhagic Syndrome in laying hens,” explains Dr. Windhausen.
It is also venturing into the intriguing world of phage technology, an area which some see as a possible solution to the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance to traditional antibiotics. In the words of Dr. Sarah Berry, Head of Research at Pathway Research Centre, “ProBe-Bac (not currently registered for EU markets) is an innovative AGP replacement product that uses bacteriophages: naturally-occurring microorganisms that target bacteria in a species-specific manner. This provides a tailored solution to tackling bacterial pathogens in both poultry and swine.”
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Dr. Sarah Berry |
Underlying all of these concepts is Pathway’s deep consideration of the implications of gut health, as well as the different ways it can be influenced. “The gut microbiota is incredibly important in the production of nutrients such as short chain fatty acids, and in helping promote a healthy immune system within the animal. But what does a ‘healthy gut’ actually mean? How can gut homeostasis be maintained, and dysbiosis prevented? Keeping that delicate balance between the commensal (‘good’) and pathogenic (‘bad’) microbes can be difficult, especially when there is still so much to learn in this developing research field. We at Pathway have recently invested in a 3rd generation DNA sequencing platform, which allows us to identify the different microbes in the gut,” explains Dr. Berry. |
“However, the microbiota shouldn’t be examined in isolation, and this is where the multi-disciplinary nature of our research team comes to the fore. Yes, the microbes are important, but so are the interactions and cellular signalling that occurs between both the intestinal cells of the animal, and between those cells and the gut microbiota. We therefore use transcriptomics to look at changes in the cells of the gastrointestinal tract. Transcriptomics is an area of science that looks at changes in RNA levels. DNA is the genetic code; proteins are the effector molecules, whilst RNA is the translator that mediates between the two. Changes in the RNA levels (the ‘transcriptome’) of the cell typically correlates with protein expression. This gives us an important insight into which genes are being activated, or repressed, and therefore which proteins are being produced, or not. This, coupled with our microbiome sequencing capabilities, is an incredibly powerful research tool.”
Indeed, Pathway Intermediates’ embrace of a multi-disciplinary team has been identified internally as one of the motors of its success. “Pathway was founded by scientists from two very different disciplines: cancer biology and mathematics. We recognize the importance of a multi-disciplinary team, and have chemists working alongside microbiologists and molecular biologists. And it is the team itself that helps Pathway Research Centre stand out. They are incredibly passionate about what they do; they want to be in the laboratory, solving problems, and their enthusiasm is palpable. Yes, our R&D department is still relatively small, but it has tripled in size in the last 5 years, and we have big plans for the future.”
In the company’s view at least, keeping science at the core of Pathway Intermediates' identity has helped them stand out in the crowded world of gut health. “Lipidol was a ‘first of its kind’ absorption accelerator. We don’t just replicate what’s already on the market; we use our scientific excellence to produce innovative and creative solutions. Our product pipeline is informed as much by our customers as by the industry trends. We listen to our customers, and we work with them.”
Sustainability, too, is also seen as an important driver of the company’s R&D efforts, concerning both production processes and portfolio expansion. The aforementioned yeast and chitosan products are both made using fermentation processes with a reduced environmental impact as a function of lower water and energy consumption; meanwhile, the production of the chitosan and COS products uses crab shells which are recycled from the food processing industry, helping to make the whole process even more efficient and environmentally friendly.
“As an industry, we face the task of feeding an ever-increasing population, in a manner that is both environmentally conscious and sustainable,” observes Dr. Berry. “This can only come from utilizing every last available nutrient in the feed, which will require tailored, bio-degradable and biologically-derived additives. We are focusing on the bio-manipulation of different microorganisms to produce the next generation of innovative additives that will provide unique solutions for our customers.”
Published in association with Pathway Intermediates
