ReviewAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI2025
Review: Gut Microbiota-A Powerful Tool for Improving Pig Welfare by Influencing Behavior Through the Gut-Brain Axis.
Review in Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Behavioral responses of pigs to dietary alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters: a systematic review.Veterinary research communications · 2026Pooled it
- Feeding of Undocked Pigs: Effects of Feed Components and Feed Composition.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Animal welfare is one of the core concerns in the field of animal science, with behavior serving as a direct reflection of emotional state and health, and thus a key indicator for welfare assessment. With the widespread adoption of intensive farming systems, abnormal behaviors in pigs have become a prominent marker of compromised welfare. In the past few years, the role of gut microbes in the regulation of animal behavior has received increasing attention. This review summarizes the strong relationship between pig behavior and welfare, and focuses on the emerging research linking gut microbiota to behavioral expression in pigs. Furthermore, it outlines the mechanisms by which the microbiota modulates behavior through the microbiota-gut-brain axis (MGBA), including immune, endocrine, and neural pathways. Additionally, the potential of microbiota-targeted interventions to improve pig welfare, including probiotics and prebiotics, will be evaluated. As a critical bridge connecting physiology and psychology, the gut microbiota shows significant promise for advancing welfare regulation in pigs.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.