Lillidale ProHealth: Gut and Immune Support for Your Pets

Optimal Health

Lillidale ProHealth for Dogs is a carefully formulated supplement to support optimal health fully from the inside out.

Although resilient to gastric dysfunction—the dog is a true omnivore and has evolved to cope with massive dietary swings—stabilisation of the gut environment will help maintain digestive well-being. Whilst bright eyes, a shiny coat, and smooth skin are the most obvious signs of good condition, everything depends on the dog's internal chemistry. And, as everything the body needs, apart from oxygen, is taken from food, the activity of the gut is paramount in terms of canine health.

The gut is a complex organ that not only processes and absorbs nutrients from food but, through the interaction of various populations, the generation of ancillary nutrients such as B vitamins, short-chain fatty acids and microbial enzymes generates a whole range of bioactive compounds. These not only aid absorption and add to the nutrient base, but they also help regulate the populations of gut microbes and, through specialist gut regions, support the immune system and immunomodulatory process. In short, optimising the gut conditions optimises the dog's well-being.

Lillidale has addressed this with a wide-ranging supplement that targets both gut function and metabolic efficiency and manifests a healthy-looking animal.

Find out more on commonly asked questions on Lillidale ProHealth Supplements.

The Gut

The microbiome consists of the immune system, the gut wall, a mucus gut barrier, and the microbiota. Each layer interacts with the other to ensure that nutrients are absorbed to power the metabolism while protecting the dog from disease, ingested toxins, pathogens and antinutritive factors.

Gut barrier showing, from left to right, immunological barrier, gut wall cells & physical mucus barrier. (Stewart et al. 2017)

 

The role of the gastrointestinal barrier is to provide a physiological, metabolic, and immunomodulatory system of controls so potentially harmful components of gut contents are barred from transition or rapidly denatured, whilst nutrients, dietary precursors and all essential chemicals for metabolism are efficiently absorbed. Several mechanisms, both active and passive, transcellular and paracellular, allow nutrients to cross the cells of the intestinal gut lumen, which can absorb molecules of different sizes and compositions.

The gut wall itself is also a barrier. It consists of enterocytes (the absorptive cells), goblet cells (mucin production), Paneth cells (antimicrobial secretions) & M-cells that are associated with GALT & MALT immune interactions with the Peyer’s Patch and immunomodulation. The absorptive function, in summary: Dietary components and bacterial components can cross the gut wall by transcellular or paracellular routes. The trans (through the cells) route has several mechanisms involving both active and passive transport, while the para (between the cells) depends on flow across concentration gradients and interaction with tight junctions. The paracellular route is regarded as the regulator of intestinal permeability. Implicit in this is the regulation of tight junctions. However, unless there is heightened cell death in the gut wall (apoptosis) – due to inflammation or a breakdown of tight junction function, it is extremely unlikely that bacterial transition is through paracellular routes.

The third barrier is the immunological system. Peyer’s Patches, activated by bacterial invasion through M-cell mediated routes (a system that maintains immunological activation through T-cell and B-Cell acquired immunity), maintain the body’s defence against microbial damage.

These barriers are hugely influenced by the microbiota—the microbial populations in the gut—and the microbiota is influenced by the diet. With such a range of choices—raw, kibble, tinned, and mixers—along with ad-lib foraging, it is challenging to get the precise balance.

Using a combination of prebiotics (short chain length fibre) and probiotics (live bacteria), called synbiotics, the microbiota can be favourably influenced to optimise their effect on digestion. Further supported by postbiotics (the result of pre- & post-biotics external fermentation, giving extra enzymes, vitamins & bioactive), the microbial populations can optimise their interactions and improve digestion. The fermentative end products of these biotics also energise the gut wall cells and help regulate tight junctions (the gaps between the cells and so regulate the uptake of nutrients). The oligosaccharides are provided by a blend of glucans, fructo- & mannan- oligosaccharides (FOS & MOS) and beta-linked complex carbohydrates (pectins) to support beneficial microbe activity along the length of the gastrointestinal tract. This prebiotic activity improves the production of butyrate from fibre fermentation, which helps power the cells of the gut wall and the proliferation of colonocytes in the hindgut. Butyrate, alongside other microbially generated components, as well as bioactive ingredients, influence the permeability of Tight Junctions.

Bacillus velezensis and yeast products help to maintain the optimal balance of intrinsic microbes and act as competitive excluders to potential pathogens.

Digestive inefficiencies, microbial conflicts and ingestion of exotoxins all create oxidative damage and inflammatory cues that both affect the gut and internally, resulting in a reduction in well-being. By providing a range of antioxidants from vitamins A & C to turmeric to chaga, anti-inflammatory support is provided. Key PUFA from Green Lipped Mussel & salmon oil provide metabolic bases for inflammatory regulation mechanisms, and toxin binders help reduce their impact. The combination of prebiotic & probiotic aids correct fermentative function of gut and maintains the integrity of the gut wall, whilst glucans chitin nucleotide from yeast cell walls helps maintain villus crypt depth and area of the absorptive surfaces, and glutamic acid maintains cell membrane lipoprotein layers and aids tissue repair.

Furthermore, the inclusion of yucca extract also helps reduce endotoxins by “holding” these molecules to their inherent saponins, whilst mycotoxin binders further add to this mix, absorbing ingested toxins from fungal colonisation of feedstuffs. Finally, pectins stimulate the production of mucin secretions of the mucus barrier.

 

The Immune System

Through specialised gut areas, the immune system defends both the gut and the body from a range of issues. Various forms of β-glucans (Chaga mushroom, Green Lipped Mussel, yeasts, oat fibre) assist immunomodulatory systems via specialist cells in the Peyer’s Patches of the gut wall because when they come in contact with the phagocytes, which recognise the β-1,3 and 1,6 bindings, these are stimulated and will produce some cytokines, which will start a chain reaction inducing immunomodulation and improving the response capacity of the innate immune system.

Immunomodulators have also been shown to have a positive effect in dogs, stimulating a range of immunoglobulins, macrophages, and phagocytes (generating antimicrobial activity). These have been shown to help protect the nasal/lung passages, which presumably combat the inhalation of pathogens when sniffing.

Fructo-oligosaccharides also impact the immune system. Similar to other oligosaccharides (glucans, mannans), they affect the composition and function of immune cells in gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). Research has shown that in dogs, FOS decreases Ig+ cells and T-helper cells, while generally, FOS can reduce inflammatory markers and neutrophils.

Additionally, bioactive components present in ProHealth have immunomodulatory effects. Terpenoids (from chaga) and polyphenols (turmeric, berries & rosehip) also impact the immune system, one of the routes to maintaining an influence on anti-inflammatory processes.

 

The Body

All the ingredients in ProHealth, when absorbed, also impact well-being beyond their benefits at the gastric level. Antioxidative actions mop up free radicals and support anti-inflammatory mechanisms:

 

Those flavonoids, specific to bilberry and rosehip, are particularly beneficial to eye, skin & coat condition.

 

The Skin