Plasma: A Whole Body Health Ingredient

Puppies and kittens use a lot of energy during their initial days growing and exploring their new surroundings. They need a diet full of calories and specific nutrients that help build healthy muscles and bones, eyesight, their gastrointestinal tract, and mental cognition. Being curious creatures, they go through many life stressors – eating things they shouldn’t, getting vaccinations, adjusting to a new environment and life without littermates or mom. These stressors take a toll on young pets and cause their bodies to respond to the stressors instead of using vital energy and nutrients to grow.

Adult pets need a quality diet that suits their lifestyle, filled with quality proteins, calories, and nutrients to help maintain proper weight and energy levels and preserve good health. Like when they were younger, adult pets go through many stressful events that cause inflammation. Vet visits, separation anxiety, or unfamiliar surroundings – even thunderstorms cause stress. Some of our pets, particularly dogs, have jobs such as herding cattle, competing in events and hunting, all of which can elevate stress levels.

Senior pets have usually been with their owners for many years and have been loyal and loving companions. Unfortunately, like us, life’s stressors and inflammation brought on by advancing age causes pets to slow down. We see inflammation impacting a pet’s range of mobility, reduced cognitive function, loss of muscle mass and strength, decreased appetite, and frequently, compromised intestinal health, digestion, and nutrient absorption.

Inflammatory cells are part of the immune system or immune response. As pets age, inflammation can occur and lead to recruitment of inflammatory cells responding to stress or other stimuli. The inflammatory cells produce messengers of the immune system such as pro or anti-inflammatory cytokines that can lead to a cascade of events in other tissues as listed below.

Inflammation of the intestinal tract can reduce absorption of nutrients, intestinal integrity (permeability), or barrier function, gut microbiota, and impact metabolism. Preventing the inflammation can reduce malnutrition and increase absorption of essential nutrients for overall well-being.

When stimulated by cytokines, the liver produces acute phase proteins and triglycerides. To produce the acute phase proteins, the liver takes up amino acids which are the building blocks for production of these proteins.

Inflammation accelerates muscle degradation. releasing amino acids for the liver production of acute phase proteins and reduces the uptake of amino acids and protein synthesis, resulting in muscle degradation. This may affect older pets by having reduced muscle mass.

Many of the metabolic effects noted in the body are affected by these cytokines impacting the brain. Inflammation results in the febrile response, reduced feed intake, lethargy, and anorexia mediated via the brain. Inflammation can impact cognitive decline by having an increase immune response which stimulates neurodegeneration cascade. Thus, anti-inflammatory or antioxidant interventions may prevent cognitive decline associated with aging.

Chronic inflammation is associated with insulin resistance and obesity. The adipose tissue increases lipolysis (breakdown of fat), reduced triglyceride clearance due to decreased lipoprotein lipase activity and produces adipocytokines that can affect insulin resistance and obesity.

Inflammation results in an imbalance of bone resorption and bone formation leading to more bone loss. Inflammation can also impact the joints resulting in swelling, arthritis, pain, stiffness which can all impact mobility.