Transporting and Exercising Unconditioned Horses: Effects on Microflora Populations

Szemplinski, K.L.; Thompson, A.R.; Cherry, Nicole; Guay, Kimberly A; Smith, William B; Brady, Jeff A.; Jones, T.N.

doi:10.1016/j.jevs.2020.102988

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…An additional limitation of our study is that changes in housing, diet, or travel history before admission of horses with colitis were not consistently recorded. Changes in diet 55 and transport 56,57 can alter the fecal microbiota of healthy horses, and such changes could have impacted the results of our study. Finally, most horses included in our study were not tested for all of the etiologic agents known to cause acute diarrhea in horses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fecal microbiota of horses with colitis and its association with laminitis and survival during hospitalization

Ayoub

Arroyo

MacNicol

et al. 2022

Veterinary Internal Medicne

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Background The association of microbiota with clinical outcomes and the taxa associated with colitis in horses remains generally unknown. Objectives Describe the fecal microbiota of horses with colitis and investigate the association of the fecal microbiota with the development of laminitis and survival. Animals Thirty‐six healthy and 55 colitis horses subdivided into laminitis (n = 15) and non‐laminitis (n = 39, 1 horse with chronic laminitis was removed from this comparison) and survivors (n = 27) and nonsurvivors (n = 28). Methods Unmatched case‐control study. The Illumina MiSeq platform targeting the V4 region of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene was used to assess the microbiota. Results The community membership (Jaccard index) and structure (Yue and Clayton index) were different (analysis of molecular variance [AMOVA]; P < .001) between healthy and colitis horses. The linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe; linear discriminant analysis [LDA] >3; P < .05) and random forest analyses found Enterobacteriaceae, Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, and Enterococcus enriched in colitis horses, whereas Treponema, Faecalibacterium, Ruminococcaceae, and Lachnospiraceae were enriched in healthy horses. The community membership and structure of colitis horses with or without laminitis was (AMOVA; P > .05). Enterobacteriaceae, Streptococcus, and Lactobacillus were enriched in horses with laminitis (LDA > 3; P < .05). The community membership (AMOVA; P = .008) of surviving and nonsurviving horses was different. Nonsurviving horses had an enrichment of Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas, Streptococcus, and Enterococcus (LDA >3; P < .05). Conclusion and Clinical Importance Differences in the microbiota of horses with colitis that survive or do not survive are minor and, similarly, the microbiota differences in horses with colitis that do or do not develop laminitis are minor.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fecal microbiota of horses with colitis and its association with laminitis and survival during hospitalization

Ayoub

Arroyo

MacNicol

et al. 2022

Veterinary Internal Medicne

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“…These differences in gut microbiota could be owing to types of breeds, feed, and management program [ 30 , 46 ]. Previous studies have reported that parasite, exercise, age, and stress significantly shifts horse gut microbiota [ 19 , 47 , 48 , 49 ]. Exercise and aging increased the abundance of Firmicutes while stress decreases the abundance of Firmicutes [ 19 , 20 , 49 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To date, there are only limited numbers of studies on the horse microbiome using NGS compared to those for ruminants. Although several studies were conducted to investigate the relationship between gut microbiota and digestion [ 1 ], disease [ 2 , 3 , 18 ], and exercise [ 19 , 20 ], the roles of the horse gut microbiota are not entirely understood. However, as widely acknowledged, the microbiota play a vital role in maintaining the host’s health, including horses [ 18 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of the Gut Microbiota of Jeju and Thoroughbred Horses in Korea

Park

Yoon²,

Kim³

et al. 2021

Veterinary Sciences

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(1) Background: The large intestine of horses is an anaerobic fermentative chamber filled with fibrolytic bacteria that play essential roles in digesting and absorbing nutrients for energy production. Although Jeju horses are a prominent local breed in Korea, few studies have investigated the gut microbiota of Jeju horses; (2) Methods: This study performed sequencing of V3 and V4 hypervariable regions of the partial 16S rRNA genes obtained from horse fecal samples and compared the gut microbiota between Jeju and Thoroughbred horses. Thirty and 24 fecal samples were obtained from Jeju and Thoroughbred horses, respectively; (3) Results: The gut microbiota belonged to 23 phyla and 159 families. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the most abundant and predominant phyla, followed by Verrucomicrobia, Euryachaeota, and Spirochaete. The ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes (F/B), which is known as a relevant marker of gut dysbiosis, was 1.84 for Jeju horses, whereas it was 1.76 for Thoroughbred horses. Moreover, at the genus level, 21 genera were significantly different between the Jeju and Thoroughbred horses (p < 0.05); (4) Conclusions: The Thoroughbred horse’s gut microbiotas had significantly higher diversity than the Jeju horses (p < 0.05). In addition, beneficial commensal bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids thus providing a significant source of energy are also more abundant in Thoroughbred horses. These results provide novel information on the horse gut microbiota and insights for further studies related to the horse gut microbiota.

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“…The gastrointestinal tract (GIT) microbiota not only provides the host with nutrients such as amino acids, vitamins, and short-chain fatty acids that are necessary for growth but also plays important roles in digestion, absorption, metabolism, and the immune system [ 1 , 2 ]. However, the stability of the GIT microbiota is easily influenced by intrinsic (host) and extrinsic (environmental) factors [ 3 ], such as species [ 4 ], age [ 5 ], geographic location [ 6 ], transportation [ 7 , 8 ], exercise stress [ 8 ], diet [ 9 ], and season [ 10 ]. Impairment or dysregulation of the equine GIT and its microbiome may lead to pathological responses [ 10 – 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity and functional prediction of fungal communities in different segments of mongolian horse gastrointestinal tracts

Zhao,

Ren,

et al. 2023

BMC Microbiol

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Background Anaerobic fungi are effective fibre-degrading microorganisms in the digestive tract of horses. However, our understanding of their diversity and community structure is limited, especially in different parts of the gastrointestinal tract. Results For the first time, high-throughput sequencing technology was used to analyse and predict fungal microbial diversity in different parts of the gastrointestinal tract of Mongolian horses. The results revealed that the richness and diversity of fungi in the hindgut of Mongolian horses were much higher than those in the foregut. The foregut was dominated by Basidiomycota and Ascomycota, whereas the hindgut was dominated by Neocallimastigomycota and Basidiomycota. At the genus level, the relative abundance of many pathogenic fungi (Cryptococcus, Cladosporium, Alternaria, and Sarocladium) in the foregut was significantly higher than that in the posterior gut, indicating that Mongolian horses have strong disease resistance. The prediction of fungal function also showed significant differences in the fungal flora between the foregut and the hindgut. The fungi in Mongolian horses’ foreguts were mainly pathologically nutritive and contained many animal and plant pathogens, particularly in the small intestine (jejunum and ileum). This indicates that the foregut may be the most important immune site in the digestive system of Mongolian horses, which explains the high disease resistance of Mongolian horses. The number of unassigned functional groups in the posterior gut was significantly higher than that in the anterior gut, indicating that the functions of fungal groups in the posterior gut have not been fully explored, and further studies are required in the future. Conclusions Analysis of high-throughput sequencing results revealed that the fungal composition varied greatly among different gastrointestinal tract segments in Mongolian horses, whose hindgut contains many anaerobic fungi involved in plant cellulose degradation. This provides important basic data for studying fungal diversity in the digestive system of healthy horses, which can be used for the health assessment of horses and provides clues for further research on the disease resistance and digestive capacity of horses, as well as a reference for the early diagnosis of intestinal diseases and innovative treatment methods.

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Transporting and Exercising Unconditioned Horses: Effects on Microflora Populations

Cited by 4 publications

References 27 publications

Fecal microbiota of horses with colitis and its association with laminitis and survival during hospitalization

Fecal microbiota of horses with colitis and its association with laminitis and survival during hospitalization

Comparison of the Gut Microbiota of Jeju and Thoroughbred Horses in Korea

Diversity and functional prediction of fungal communities in different segments of mongolian horse gastrointestinal tracts

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