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Mathematics sheds new light on the best
approach to antibiotic therapy in agriculture
MITACS and Quebec pork industry join
forces to support innovative research
The power of advanced mathematical tools is being applied
to an important agricultural and societal challenge –
the need for the safe and effective use of antibiotics in
animal production. A partnership between the Mathematics of
Information Technology and Complex Systems (MITACS) network
and the Fédération des producteurs de porcs
du Québec (FPPQ) is supporting a new area of research,
which combines the sciences of mathematics, pharmacology,
animal behaviour and veterinary medicine to determine the
best strategies for feed-administered antibiotics in hog production.
The mathematical sciences also hold potential for novel applications
in human antibiotic research.
The need to preserve the long-term efficacy of antibiotics
for both animals and humans is a growing imperative. Limited
options for the development of new antibiotics make it increasingly
important to guard against resistance to medications currently
in use. That means bringing the highest degree of precision
to the design and delivery of antibiotic therapies.
Safe and efficacious use of antibiotics is certainly a priority
for the FPPQ, which represents more than 4,050 pork producers
in Quebec. The pork industry is one of the economic backbones
of the province, with production valued at more than $3.1 billion
a year.
The FPPQ dedicates considerable resources to R&D to continually
advance standards in animal health and welfare, food safety
and meat quality. The association has partnered with MITACS
to fund a multidisciplinary project headed by mathematics
researcher Fahima Nekka of the Université de Montréal.
Dr. Nekka and her team are breaking new ground using
complex mathematics, supported by in vivo research, to predict
the impact of swine feeding behaviour on the animals' exposure
to feed-administered antibiotics.
| Building a mathematical
model based on "life on the farm"
An experimental farm in Quebec, CDPQ, Deschambeault,
which is equipped with a computerized feeding
station, is providing the MITACS project team
with key data to model swine feeding behaviour.
The feeding station, known as IVOG, records the
identification of each animal, how long it feeds
and the weight of the feed that is ingested during
the visit.
The researchers are also videotaping the social
behaviour of the swine when they feed in groups,
as well as taking blood and fecal samples to measure
antibiotic concentrations in the animals' systems
along with antibiotic resistance. So the real-life
experience of animals feeding on the farm is fuelling
the creation of a complex mathematical model.
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"Our objective as an industry is to achieve the best
use of antibiotics for animal health and to lower the risk
of antibiotic resistance," says Claude Miville, Manager,
Research & Development, with the FPPQ. "We were very
interested in this research because it is a new field and
a novel way of studying antibiotics in our sector. Through
this MITACS project, we are accessing the expertise of mathematical
modelling to find new solutions for one of our major priorities."
As MITACS project leader, Dr. Nekka is working with
a cross-disciplinary team of researchers with backgrounds
in pharmacokinetics, veterinary medicine, animal sciences,
pharmacy and mathematics. The veterinary component is led
by her university colleague Jérôme del Castillo
and animal scientist Renée Bergeron from Université
Laval.
To design the best antibiotic therapy, it is important to
consider all the factors affecting the therapeutic efficiency
of the antibiotics and the risk of resistance. There are some
variables, however, which are complex and which exhibit random
features. One such variable is feeding behaviour.
"Studies by animal behaviour scientists have demonstrated
that there are wide variations in swine feeding behaviour
both individually and while feeding in groups," Dr. Nekka
explains. "For the first time, Dr. del Castillo
raised the potential problem that can be induced by these
feeding variations on the fate of feed-administered antibiotics
in the body."
Here's where the mathematical sciences enter into the picture.
"The challenge is to quantify this complex, highly variable
behaviour and this cannot be done without very advanced mathematical
tools," says Dr. Nekka. "We use mathematical
methods to generate the random features and to establish predictions
based on probabilities."
The team has made considerable progress toward building the
model to achieve the short-term project objective of characterizing
and predicting the pharmacokinetic effects of the various
feeding behaviours.
There have been some interesting findings already, says Dr. Nekka.
Data collected from an experimental farm helped the team to
classify swine into different social groups: dominates, intermediates
and subordinates, determined by their ability to access feed.
The feeding scenarios will be combined with other factors
such as animal weight, daily consumption and stages of growth.
The long-term objective is to develop new guidelines for antibiotic
therapy control that will be safer and more efficient.
This type of mathematical modelling also has applications
in human medicine, says the project leader. "There is
an emerging concern about compliance in human antibiotic use,
and mathematical approaches will allow us to address that
problem as well."
This project clearly demonstrates how close collaboration
between researchers in mathematics and other disciplines provides
novel solutions to important societal challenges.
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