Digestive Physiology of Pigs (DPP) Lecture: Impact of Heat Stress on Gut and Systemic Health in Animal Production: Novel Molecular Pathways

Heat stress, driven by global warming and climate change, is a significant economic, welfare, and production burden to worldwide livestock and poultry production sustainability. In broiler chickens, which supports the livelihoods and provides food security for billions of people globally, the strong negative effect of heat stress on growth, feed efficiency, gut integrity, meat yield and mortality is well documented. Heat stress induces many cellular alterations such as protein misfolding and aggregation, cell cycle arrest, oxidative stress, and transcription modulation. Here, we will provide new insights and describe new molecular pathways involved in heat stress responses, including the role of dsRNA in mediating the effect of heat stress on gut barrier function and the mode of action of microalgae, Spirulina platensis, in mitigating the effect of heat stress and improving breast muscle yield in broilers.