28/07/2021

Microbes, prebiotics & Fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) in adult horses with diarrhea

At the 9th EEHNC, the use of FMT was reviewed by Theelen et al. This review can be found in the proceedings section on http://www.equine-congress.com. The purpose of this study was to assess FMT as a clinical treatment and modulator of fecal microbiota in hospitalized horses with colitis. The authors concluded that their results pointed to a greater normalization of the microbiome when hospitalized patients were subjected to FMT.

Another recent open access paper used a general and comprehensive approach for characterizing the hindgut ecosystem of 9 healthy horses over 28 days in response to a 5-day challenge with oral trimethoprim-sulfadiazine (TMS) and the supplementation of a bacterial blend (Lactobacilli).  The study focused on effects on microbial fibrolytic activity and the host immune response. The authors concluded that bacterial blend supplementation did not limit bacterial alteration but might have mucosal immunomodulatory effects.

The last recent study discussed in this subject area addressed the influence of exercise on the composition of the most numerous bacterial phyla in the digestive system of horses. The results showed a significant increase in the level of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes after exercise compared to the state before physical effort. This was not observed for the Lactobacilli family.

References

  • C. A. McKinney, D. Bedenice, A. P. Pacheco, et al. 2021. Assessment of clinical and microbiota responses to fecal microbial transplantation in adult horses with diarrhea. PLoS ONE 16 (1 January). Open Acces. Abstract & Full text article.
  • Collinet, P. Grimm, S. Julliand and V. Julliand. 2021. Multidimensional Approach for Investigating the Effects of an Antibiotic–Probiotic Combination on the Equine Hindgut Ecosystem and Microbial FibrolysisFront.Microbiol. 12. Abstract & Full text article
  • Górniak, W., Cholewińska, P., Szeligowska, N., Wołoszyńska, M., Soroko,  M. and K. Czyż. 2021. Effect of intense exercise on the level of bacteroidetes and firmicutes phyla in the digestive system of thoroughbred racehorsesAnimals 11 (2): 1-9. Abstract & Full text article.
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