Role of the gut microbiota in equine health and disease

Venable, E. B.; Bland, Stephanie D.; McPherson, J. L.; Francis, Jesse M.

doi:10.2527/af.2016-0033

Cited by 22 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The distribution of bacterial phyla in our results agrees with some previous findings, but not others. Verrucomicrobia, for example, have not been described as a key component in the equine intestinal microbiome by some reports (Dougal et al 2013;Venable et al 2016;Salem et al 2018), but the larger proportion that we found is in accordance with others (Steelman et al 2012;Costa et al 2015;Venable et al 2016). There might be several reasons for this finding.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Effects of hypersensitivity disorders and environmental factors on the equine intestinal microbiota

Kaiser-Thom

Hilty

Gerber

2020

Veterinary Quarterly

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Background: Recent evidence suggests that an altered intestinal microbiota, specifically a reduction of bacterial diversity or a shift in microbial composition, is associated with the development of hypersensitivity disorders in humans, but this is unknown for horses. Objectives: In this study we hypothesized that horses affected by either Culicoides hypersensitivity or severe equine asthma or both show a decreased diversity of their intestinal microbiota. We also investigated environmental effects. Methods: Rectal swab samples of a total of 140 horses were collected and the owners completed a detailed questionnaire about their horse. For each allergic horse, a healthy peer from the same stable was equally sampled as an environmentally matched control. Microbiota in the swabs was determined by assessing the V4 region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Structures of bacterial communities were investigated by means of alpha and beta diversity indices. Results: Group wise comparisons between healthy and allergic horses showed no significant differences regarding alpha (p ¼ 0.9) and beta diversity (p ¼ 0.5). However, the microbial structure was associated with environmental factors such as the type of stable (p ¼ 0.001), access to pasture (p ¼ 0.001) or the type of feeding (p ¼ 0.003). There was also a strong location effect meaning that the microbiota was more similar within the same as compared between farms within this study. Conclusion: Our observations suggest that hypersensitivity disorders in adult horses are not associated with an alteration of the intestinal microbiota, but environmental and/or location factors strongly influence these bacteria.ABBREVIATIONS: ASV: amplicon sequence variant; bp: base pair; CH: Culicoides hypersensitivity; HOARSI: horse owner assessed respiratory signs index; NMDS: nonmetric multidimensional scaling; OTU: operational taxonomic unit; SEA: severe equine asthma; V4: variable region 4 (of the bacterial 16Sr RNA gene) ARTICLE HISTORY

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Effects of hypersensitivity disorders and environmental factors on the equine intestinal microbiota

Kaiser-Thom

Hilty

Gerber

2020

Veterinary Quarterly

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“…Additionally, increased amounts of Bifidobacteriaceae bacteria were also present, likely representing the greater dependence of the Day 7 foal on milk relative to the older postnatal time points included in this comparison since microbes in this family are known to utilize lactose and milk oligosaccharides. Examination of some of the species seen in the other diarrheic samples could be indicative of dysbioses or just true differences by age such as Spirochaetes found in relatively higher numbers in healthy horses [31–33]. Compared to diarrheic Day 7 foal samples, Day 7 non-diarrheic samples were significantly enriched in order Actinomycetales especially the family Micrococcaceae (Fig 5B).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Utilizing the fecal microbiota to understand foal gut transitions from birth to weaning

et al. 2019

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A healthy gastrointestinal (GI) tract with a properly established microbiota is necessary for a foal to develop into a healthy weanling. A foal’s health can be critically impacted by aberrations in the microbiome such as with diarrhea which can cause great morbidity and mortality in foals. In this study, we hypothesized that gut establishment in the foal transitioning from a diet of milk to a diet of grain, forage, and pasture would be detectable through analyses of the fecal microbiotas. Fecal samples from 37 sets of foals and mares were collected at multiple time points ranging from birth to weaning. Bacterial DNA was isolated from the samples, and the V4 domain of bacterial 16S rRNA genes were amplified via polymerase chain reaction. Next generation sequencing was then performed on the resulting amplicons, and analyses were performed to characterize the microbiome as well as the relative abundance of microbiota present. We found that bacterial population compositions followed a pattern throughout the early life of the foal in an age-dependent manner. As foals transitioned from milk consumption to a forage and grain diet, there were recognizable changes in fecal microbial compositions from initial populations predominant in the ability to metabolize milk to populations capable of utilizing fibrous plant material. We were also able to recognize differences in microbial populations amongst diarrheic foals as well as microbial population differences associated with differences in management styles between facilities. Future efforts will gauge the effects of lesser abundant bacterial populations that could also be essential to GI health, as well as to determine how associations between microbial population profiles and animal management practices can be used to inform strategies for improving upon the health and growth of horses overall.

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“…The swine microbial ecosystem is composed of rich and diverse populations that harbor thousands of different microbial species (aerobic, facultative anaerobic, and strictly anaerobic), dwelling in different anatomical biogeographic locations (Metzler and Mosenthin, 2008; Holman et al, 2017). These mutualist populations have a wide range of functions, including providing colonization resistance against potential pathogens, absorbing different kind of nutrients, modulation of the host's immune system, metabolizing indigestible polysaccharides, and regulating the host's metabolism (Bischoff, 2011; Venable et al, 2016). Therefore, alteration of the swine microbial environment may detrimentally influence the host's health status and inhibit the pathogens colonization (Marchesi et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antimicrobial Effects on Swine Gastrointestinal Microbiota and Their Accompanying Antibiotic Resistome

2019

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Antimicrobials are the most commonly prescribed drugs in the swine industry. While antimicrobials are an effective treatment for serious bacterial infections, their use has been associated with major adverse effects on health. It has been shown that antimicrobials have substantial direct and indirect impacts on the swine gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota and their accompanying antimicrobial resistome. Antimicrobials have also been associated with a significant public health concern through selection of resistant opportunistic pathogens and increased emergence of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs). Since the mutualistic microbiota play a crucial role in host immune regulation and in providing colonization resistance against potential pathogens, the detrimental impacts of antimicrobial treatment on the microbiota structure and its metabolic activity may lead to further health complications later in life. In this review, we present an overview of antimicrobial use in the swine industry and their role in the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. Additionally, we review our current understanding of GI microbiota and their role in swine health. Finally, we investigate the effects of antimicrobial administration on the swine GI microbiota and their accompanying antibiotic resistome. The presented data is crucial for the development of robust non-antibiotic alternative strategies to restore the GI microbiota functionality and guarantee effective continued use of antimicrobials in the livestock production system.

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Role of the gut microbiota in equine health and disease

Cited by 22 publications

References 31 publications

Effects of hypersensitivity disorders and environmental factors on the equine intestinal microbiota

Effects of hypersensitivity disorders and environmental factors on the equine intestinal microbiota

Utilizing the fecal microbiota to understand foal gut transitions from birth to weaning

Antimicrobial Effects on Swine Gastrointestinal Microbiota and Their Accompanying Antibiotic Resistome

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