The impact of cumulative stress


Farming animals are confronted everyday with a number of challenges:

  • climatic conditions (variation in temperature, humidity),
  • vaccinations & infections,
  • bad feed quality,
  • change of feed,
  • toxins and many others.


This accumulation of several stress factors often leads to oxidative stress at the cellular level which results in:

  • a compromised liver,
  • suppression of the immunity and
  • disturbances of the digestive system.


The impact of these stress factors is amplified by the presence of toxins even at low doses, in particularly when in combination.

The end result of such cumulative stress is gut dysbiosis manifested as chronic inflammation with significant financial losses for the producer.
 

In need of more holistic approaches: The Escent® S Technology


With regards to mycotoxins, the Industry has put a lot of effort on field surveys. However, we are missing perhaps the ‘bigger picture’ by ignoring all the other stress factors which impact the performance of the animal. The Industry is in need of more holistic approaches that can tackle more than one challenge in real life conditions.

Innovad, after years of research, has developed a technology, that offers a comprehensive solution.

But there is a lot more to it. Escent® S is a complex formula which comprises of anti-oxidants (natural and synthetic). This means it helps to prevent and lower the levels of oxidative stress at the cellular level. On top of this, Escent® S  contains plant extracts and plant constituents that support and protect the liver function. Additionally, the Escent® S  technology incorporates immune stimulating components like yeast extracts, yeast cell walls and fermentation extracts which put in action the natural defense mechanisms. And of course, Escent® S has excellent adsorbing and binding capacity to toxic molecules.
 

Proprietary risk assessment


The Escent® S platform is actually a holistic approach, not just a product. The platform is complemented by proprietary Risk Assessment. Access to state of the art LC-MS/MS analysis means we can look at a number of mycotoxins, not just the usual suspects, with high sensitivity. More importantly, this is accompanied by a report with recommendations for application rates.
 

Novel research on biomonitoring


As part of her PhD research at the University of Ghent in Belgium, Marianne Lauwers evaluated the efficacy of Escent® S as a detoxifier platform in different biological matrices in pigs and chickens by using biomarkers for exposure (biomonitoring). This research was recently published in the highly ranked Journal of Toxins.

In this study, Escent® S was tested in vivo using co-contamination (i.e. blends of mycotoxins), following several biological matrices (blood, urine, feaces and/or excreta), in several species (poultry & swine), following both phase I and phase II metabolites.

The results showed a systemic reduction of mycotoxins in blood, urine and faeces (or bird excreta):

  • 50% reduction for DON (Deoxynivalenol)
  • 40% reduction for AFB1 (Aflatoxin B1)


This is not an easy task taking into account that a) the animals were contaminated with a blend of three mycotoxins (DON, OTA and AFB1) and b) at high doses (25x higher than the EFSA guidelines for OTA and 1000x higher for AFB1.

What this really means is that the Escent® S Technology can help to reduce animal disease knowing the impact of toxic compounds in several diseases like Necrotic Enteritis in chickens.
 

Ways to apply the Escent® S Technology


Well, the Escent® S Technology is available not only as feed additive but also as a drinking water application. That means that Escent® L can be applied as a short intervention when it is most needed against abiotic and biotic stress to support the animal’s own immune system.  And we have seen a great response in the field given very diverse practices, climatic conditions, geographic territories and animal species.
 

The (near) future


The biomonitoring research is just the beginning of an exciting journey. Innovad is in the middle of a large-scale field trial in pregnant sows in which we are testing the efficacy of our Escent® S Technology to systemically lower the levels of key toxic contaminants by monitoring the levels of mycotoxins both in feed and in biological fluids. But more importantly, we are aiming to monitor several key biomarkers of stress and correlate those findings with the animal health status.
 

In summary
 

  • Real farming conditions: animals are confronted with several sources of stress –> oxidative stress /inflammation/liver
  • Toxic contaminants are only one of these stress factors which can impair the gut barrier & are linked with disease, even at low doses
  • The farmer  needs more holistic approaches like Escent®S to combat overall stress
  • Escent® S Technology: A Complex Recipe with Several Modes of Action
  • Escent® S: Proprietary Risk Assessment with Application Rates recommendations
  • Escent® S: Novel Research on Biomonitoring   Systemic Reduction of mycotoxins
  • Escent® L: A drinking water application for short interventions when things start going wrong