Effect of an extruded animal protein‐free diet on fecal microbiota of dogs with food‐responsive enteropathy

Abstract

BackgroundDietary interventions are thought to modify gut microbial communities in healthy individuals. In dogs with chronic enteropathies, resolution of dysbiosis, along with remission of clinical signs, is expected with treatment.Hypothesis/ObjectiveTo evaluate changes in the fecal microbiota in dogs with food‐responsive chronic enteropathy (FRE) and in healthy control (HC) dogs before and after an elimination dietary trial with an animal protein‐free diet (APFD).AnimalsDogs with FRE (n = 10) and HC (n = 14).MethodsDogs were fed the APFD for 60 days. Fecal microbiota was analyzed by Illumina 16S rRNA sequencing and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR).ResultsA significantly lower bacterial alpha‐diversity was observed in dogs with FRE compared with HC dogs at baseline, and compared with FRE dogs after the trial. Distinct microbial communities were observed in dogs with FRE at baseline compared with HC dogs at baseline and compared with dogs with FRE after the trial. Microbial communities still were different in FRE dogs after the trial compared with HC dogs at baseline. In HC dogs, the fecal microbiota did not show a significant modification after administration of the APFD.Conclusion and Clinical ImportanceOur results suggest that, in FRE dogs, treatment with the APFD led to a partial recovery of the fecal microbiota by significantly increasing microbiota richness, which was significantly closer to a healthy microbiota after the treatment. In contrast, no changes were detected in the fecal microbiota of HC dogs fed the same APFD.

The Role of the Canine Gut Microbiome and Metabolome in Health and Gastrointestinal Disease

“…However, for dogs, the kingdom of origin of the ingredients seems to be less important than the overall macronutrient composition. Extruded diets with similar macronutrient contents, but prepared exclusively with vegetable sources of protein, do not seem to significantly alter the microbiome of dogs when compared to traditional (mixed animal and vegetable) extruded diets (22).…”

“…Dogs with FRD had a decrease of Enterococcus spp., Corynebacterium spp., and Proteobacteria, all potential pathogens, in the duodenum after treatment. In another study focusing on dogs with FRD (22), after an elimination dietary trial with a vegetable protein diet, the microbiome diversity was no longer significantly different from healthy controls, and richness was significantly increased.…”

Effect of Sequentially Fed High Protein, Hydrolysed Protein, and High Fibre Diets on The Faecal Microbiota of Healthy Dogs: A Cross-Over Study

“…Studies investigating the direct impact of protein on gut microbiota composition and functionality have shown that protein quality and source are as important as total amounts in people, but less so in dogs [2, 16,44]. Analysis of the gut microbiota showed that diet C (all-meat/high protein diet) in our study was characterised by an overrepresentation of bacteria belonging to the Fusobacteria phylum.…”

“…Similar studies have been performed regarding the effect of fibre on the gut microbiota of dogs [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. Some studies have shown beneficial effects and changes in the gut microbiota [5,15], whereas others have not shown any significant change [6,12,14,16,17]. Results have been dependent on the type of fibre, percentage of fibre, previous diet fed, duration of treatment, health status and methodology used during the analysis.…”

“…However, to our knowledge, there is no published data on how hypoallergenic or hydrolysed diets affect the gastrointestinal microbiome in healthy dogs fed different types of diets prior to the change and in turn, which component of the diet is having the most impact [16,36,37]. The modern pet food industry uses several fibre sources (mainly by-products derived from the processing of grains, fruits and vegetables) in the formation of diets for dogs [15,38].…”