Comparison of Fecal Microbiota between German Holstein Dairy Cows with and without Left-Sided Displacement of the Abomasum

Abstract

bOne of the most common diseases in high-performance German Holstein dairy cows is left-sided displacement of the abomasum (LDA). Hypomotility of the abomasum is detrimental during the pathogenesis of LDA. It is known that improper interactions between the gut microbiota and the enteric nervous system contribute to dysfunctions of gastrointestinal motility. Therefore, we hypothesized that the gut microbial composition will be different between German Holstein dairy cows with and without LDA. We used 16S rRNA gene analysis to evaluate whether there are any differences in bacterial composition between German Holstein dairy cows with and without LDA. Even though our data are limited to being used to correlate compositional changes with corresponding functional aspects in the pathogenesis of LDA, results from this study show that the fecal microbial compositions of German Holstein dairy cows with LDA shifted and were less diverse than those in normal cows. In particular, Spirochaetes were absent in cows with LDA. One of the most common diseases in high-performance dairy cows is left-sided (LDA) or right-sided (RDA) displacement of the abomasum, collectively known as displacement of the abomasum (DA), in which the abomasum bloats and moves from its normal position on the right ventral part of the abdomen to the left or right abdominal wall (1, 2). DA requires veterinary intervention, and the typical clinical findings of this condition include anorexia and decreased milk production, as DA often occurs near parturition or during the early lactation period (2, 3). Therefore, DA imposes a huge economic burden on dairy producers.Gas accumulation in the abomasum plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of DA by increasing the buoyancy of the abomasum, resulting in DA. Hypomotility of the abomasum and increased abomasal gas production have been identified as the main mechanisms of action for gas accumulation in the abomasum (1, 3, 4). In a normal situation, the gas in the abomasum is expelled in the oral direction. However, abomasal gas accumulation can occur with hypomotility of the abomasum. Decreased motility of the abomasum is attributed to a large quantity of volatile fatty acids (VFA) in the abomasum, metabolic alkalosis, and low blood calcium levels (1, 4-6). However, abomasal motility is mainly controlled by the vagus nerve, and dysfunction in the vagus nerve can decrease the motility of the abomasum (3, 7-9). It has been shown that the interactions between the enteric nervous system and the gut microbiota in mice contribute to proper gastrointestinal motility (10). The mouse gut microbiota can stimulate vagal sensory neurons, which is a major neural pathway that conveys information from the gastrointestinal luminal contents to the brain, thus modulating gastrointestinal motility (11,12). In addition, it has been shown that systemic endotoxemia related to the gut microbiota can induce changes in neuronal function, including vagal afferent neurons (13). Therefore, we hypothesized that the gut microbial composition w...

Dynamic changes of the fecal bacterial community in dairy cows during early lactation

“…For lactating cows, the core fecal microbiota was identified from ten farms across Northern and Central California, USA (Hagey et al 2019 ). Another study compared the fecal microbiota of health and left-sided displacement of the abomasum and found a shift in fecal microbiota composition with left-sided displacement in early lactating dairy cows (Song et al 2016 ). Therefore, to date, the knowledge on the fecal microbiota structure and composition during early lactation stage in dairy cows, remain sparse.…”

Altered Fecal Microbiome and Correlations of the Metabolome with Plasma Metabolites in Dairy Cows with Left Displaced Abomasum

“…Moreover, microbial catabolites, such as bile acids, branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), and indole derivatives, participate in the regulation of glucolipid metabolism, insulin resistance, and systemic inflammation ( 18 ). Song et al ( 19 ) suggested that the gut microbial composition of cows with LDA was shifted compared with that of healthy cows. However, knowledge regarding the correlation between gut microbiota and metabolism in cows with LDA is lacking.…”

Characterization of faecal microbial communities of dairy cows fed diets containing ensiled Moringa oleifera fodder

“…In this study, 1,103,963 high quality valid tags were obtained across all samples, and the sequencing size of each sample ranged from 30,246 to 43,732, which were higher than those in previous studies of mouse 18 , human 19 , pigs 20 , and dairy cows 21 . Rarefaction curves analysis of the Chao1 index indicated that this sequencing depth was sufficient for further analysis.…”