Postbiotics and Parabiotics in Veterinary Medicine: A Market Overview.
Abstract: Postbiotics and parabiotics (PP) are innovative concepts in veterinary medicine that have garnered substantial interest owing to their unique properties and potential benefits. PP offers a promising alternative to live bacteria, demonstrating properties such as prebiotic, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer effects, while potentially mitigating some of the common challenges associated with live bacterial applications. PP products are manufactured and commercially employed in livestock, poultry, and pets. Moreover, postbiotic-based commercial products have exhibited a diverse range of beneficial effects including enhanced gut health and microbiota, strengthened immune modulation, stress mitigation, and improved animal production. Moreover, their antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties make them viable dietary supplements or additives, potentially replacing antibiotics and addressing the growing concern of antibiotic resistance in the livestock industry. This work reviews the commercial applications of PP in animal nutrition and therapeutics, including in poultry, cattle, sheep, horses, and pet animals. The growing demand for PP products shows that we need to keep researching to find new uses for PP.
© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
Publication Date: 2025-09-01 PubMed ID: 40889059PubMed Central: 9262730DOI: 10.1007/s12602-025-10734-9Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary
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Overview
- This research article reviews the current market and applications of postbiotics and parabiotics (PP) in veterinary medicine, focusing on their benefits as alternatives to live bacteria in animal health and production.
Introduction to Postbiotics and Parabiotics (PP)
- Definition: PP are innovative veterinary health agents derived from microorganisms but are not live bacteria themselves.
- Types of Effects: They exhibit prebiotic, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer properties.
- Advantages over Live Bacteria: They potentially avoid challenges often encountered with live probiotics, such as stability issues, safety concerns, and regulatory hurdles.
Applications in Veterinary Medicine
- Target Species: Livestock (including cattle, sheep), poultry, horses, and pet animals.
- Health Benefits:
- Enhancement of gut health and balance of intestinal microbiota.
- Immune system modulation leading to better disease resistance.
- Reduction in stress effects, improving animal well-being.
- Overall improvement in production parameters like growth and yield.
- Therapeutic Use: Used as dietary supplements or feed additives to improve animal performance and health.
Commercial Market and Product Use
- Product Forms: Manufactured PP products for use in various animal feed formulations and supplements.
- Diverse Benefits Noted: Commercial products show antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, contributing to animal health improvement.
- Antibiotic Alternative: PP products are considered a promising substitute for antibiotics, addressing the critical issue of antibiotic resistance in livestock.
Implications and Future Research
- Growing Market Demand: Increasing interest and demand for PP products in veterinary nutrition and therapeutics.
- Research Needs: Continuous investigation to discover novel applications and optimize the benefits of PP in different animal species.
- Potential Impact: Wider adoption of PP could enhance sustainable livestock production, improve animal welfare, and reduce reliance on antibiotics.
Cite This Article
APA
Hosseini SH, Sharafi H, Emamjomeh A, Nasri F, Hosseini A, Mardani S, Moradi M.
(2025).
Postbiotics and Parabiotics in Veterinary Medicine: A Market Overview.
Probiotics Antimicrob Proteins.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12602-025-10734-9 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.
- Department of Food Hygiene and Quality Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.
- Department of Food Hygiene and Quality Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.
- Department of Food Hygiene and Quality Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.
- Department of Food Hygiene and Quality Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.
- Department of Food Hygiene and Quality Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran. m.moradi@urmia.ac.ir.
Conflict of Interest Statement
Declarations. Ethics Approval: This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects. Use of AI: The authors used Paperpal to improve the language and clarity of the text, and subsequently performed their own review and editing. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests.
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