Influence ofEnterococcus faeciumSF68 Probiotic on Giardiasis in Dogs

Abstract

Background: Giardiasis is a common, potentially zoonotic disease, and dogs often harbor and shed cysts without showing clinical signs. Treatment with the probiotic Enterococcus faecium SF68 has been shown to stimulate mucosal and systemic immunity in a variety of animal models and in young dogs, and to reduce giardial cyst and antigen shedding in rodents.Hypothesis: Adult dogs with chronic naturally acquired giardiasis will have decreased giardial fecal cyst and antigen shedding and increased innate and adaptive immunity after 6 weeks probiotic treatment with E. faecium SF68.Animals: Twenty adult dogs.Methods: After a 6-week dietary equilibration period, dogs were randomized to receive E. faecium SF68 or placebo for 6 weeks, and then crossed over to the alternate treatment. We measured cyst shedding, fecal giardial antigen, fecal immunoglobulin A (IgA) concentration, and circulating leukocyte phagocytic activity at multiple timepoints to determine the effect of E. faecium SF68 on giardiasis and immune responses in these dogs.Results: No differences were observed between placebo or E. faecium SF68 treatment for giardial cyst shedding, fecal antigen shedding, fecal IgA concentration, or leukocyte phagocytic activity.Conclusions: Short-term treatment with E. faecium SF68 of dogs with chronic naturally acquired subclinical giardiasis fails to affect giardial cyst shedding or antigen content and does not alter innate or adaptive immune responses.

Effect of a multi-species synbiotic formulation on fecal bacterial microbiota of healthy cats and dogs as evaluated by pyrosequencing

“…fecal and serum IgA concentration) function. Similarly, one study showed that the administration of the probiotic E. faecium SF68 for 6 weeks did not change fecal IgA concentrations in adult dogs with chronic giardiasis (Simpson et al ., ). In contrast, an increase in fecal IgA in young dogs has been described after oral administration of the same probiotic strain (i.e.…”

Subclinical Giardia in dogs: a veterinary conundrum relevant to human infection

“…However, several studies have reported a positive effect of probiotics on the treatment of giardiasis [67,[69][70][71]. Silymarin used as a supplement to anti-protozoal drugs…”

Efficacy of an orally administered anti‐diarrheal probiotic paste (Pro‐Kolin Advanced) in dogs with acute diarrhea: A randomized, placebo‐controlled, double‐blinded clinical study

“…For example, dogs with giardiasis may have been included in the study because parasitological screening was not performed. A study of E. faecium SF68 in dogs with subclinical giardiasis indicated that the probiotic had no effect on cyst shedding, which may indicate a lack of efficacy for the species E. faecium in clinical giardiasis. Inclusion of dogs with clinical giardiasis in our study could have led to underestimation of the efficacy of the ADPP in dogs with nonparasitic diarrhea, although it is likely that their inclusion rate, and consequently their impact on study findings, was low .…”