The equine microbiome refers to the diverse community of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, and viruses, residing in various parts of a horse's body, such as the gastrointestinal tract, skin, and respiratory system. These microorganisms are involved in numerous physiological processes, including digestion, metabolism, and immune function. The composition and diversity of the microbiome can be influenced by factors such as diet, environment, and health status. Research in this area explores the characterization of the equine microbiome, its impact on health and disease, and potential applications in managing equine health. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that investigate the composition, function, and implications of the microbiome in horses.
Sun Y, Yu YT, Castillo XO, Anderson R, Wang M, Sun Q, Tallmadge R, Sams K, Reboul G, Zehr J, Brown J, Wang X, Marra N, Stanhope B, Grenier J....Fever of unknown origin (FUO) without a respiratory component is a frequent clinical presentation in horses. Multiple pathogens, both tick-borne and enteric, can be involved as etiologic agents. An additional potential mechanism is intestinal barrier dysfunction. This case-control study aimed to detect and associate microbial taxa in blood with disease state. Areas known for a high prevalence of tick-borne diseases in humans were chosen to survey horses with FUO, which was defined as fever of 101.5°F or higher with no signs of respiratory illness or other recognisable diseases. Blood samples ...
Fujimoto R, Kuchida M, Ban-Tokuda T, Matsui H.The equine large intestine harbors a diverse array of symbiotic microorganisms. Disruptions in the gut microbiota can lead to various diseases in horses. Probiotics offer promising avenues for enhancing equine health and performance. However, commercial formulations lack robust scientific validation. This study aimed to isolate and identify Lactobacillaceae and Bifidobacterium spp. from horse feces to explore their potential as probiotics. Fecal samples from Thoroughbred horses were subjected to isolation procedures. Lactic acid-producing bacteria were isolated using specific media and identif...
Matinpour M, Zettner N, Neumann K, Bäumer L, Burkovski A.Horses have close interactions with humans and are important as working animals and livestock. In contrast to smaller companion animals like cats and dogs, there is only little information available about their skin microbiome. The objective of this study was to identify and characterize the culturable cutaneous microbiome of healthy horses. Samples were taken from 14 horses from Southern Germany which were randomly enrolled in this study. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) was used as a method to detect the culturable microorganisms of ...
Loublier C, Costa M, Taminiau B, Lecoq L, Daube G, Amory H, Cesarini C.Research on fecal microbiota changes during hospitalization of horses with colic is emerging. Objective: Describe changes of the fecal microbiota during hospitalization of horses with colic caused by inflammatory (INFL), simple (SIMPLE), and strangulated (STR) obstructions, and investigate associations with survival. Methods: Twenty-three horses with colic: 9 in INFL, 5 in STR, and 9 in SIMPLE groups. Seventeen horses survived, and 6 were euthanized. Methods: Prospective observational study. Fecal samples were collected on admission (D1), on days 3 (D3) and 5 (D5). Bacterial taxonomy profiling...
Hemeda AA, Zahran SA, Ali-Tammam M, Ewida MA, Kashef MT, Yassin AS, Mitra A, Youssef NH, Elshahed MS.The equine gut harbors a diverse microbial community and represents a rich source of carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes). To identify and characterize potentially novel CAZymes from a horse's hindgut metagenome, shotgun metagenomic sequencing was performed on DNA extracted from a stool sample of a male horse, followed by CAZyme annotation. Here, we report on the characterization of a novel enzyme (AH2) that was identified, synthesized, cloned, and characterized from the obtained CAZyme dataset. AH2 was identified as a GH130 family member and displayed exclusive xylanase activity, a trait hit...
Penazzi L, Pagliara E, Nervo T, Ala U, Bertuglia A, Romano G, Hattab J, Tiscar PG, Bergagna S, Pagliasso G, Antoniazzi S, Cavallarin L, Valle E....Foals commonly experience diarrhoea in the first weeks of life. Although this condition is rarely life-threatening, it can have significant health consequences. This study investigated whether new-born foals can benefit from a dietary supplement of nucleotides, as already demonstrated in other species. Dietary nucleotides have positive effects on rapidly proliferating tissues and are considered "semi-essential nutrients" since cells have only a limited capacity to synthesize these compounds. The aim of this study was to investigate whether providing foals with a dietary nucleotide supplementat...
Arantes JA, Di Pietro R, Ratté M, Arroyo LG, Leclère M, Costa MC.Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been used as a treatment option for horses (Equus caballus) with gastrointestinal diseases. Several preparation and conservation protocols to improve bacterial survival have been studied in other species. Unassigned: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of oxygen exposure and different protectant solutions on bacterial viability before and after freezing using horse feces. Fecal samples from 10 healthy horses were aliquoted and diluted in cryoprotectant solutions containing antioxidants (n = 40) or 10% glycerol (n = 40). Half of the aliquots from e...
Basso RM, Cerri FM, Possebon FS, Braga PRC, Casas MRT, Oliveira-Filho JP, Araújo Júnior JP, Ribeiro MG, Arroyo LG, Borges AS. spp. are important pathogens of foals, causing clinical enterocolitis and sepsis. We characterized the resistance, virulence, and stress response genes in isolates from foals with or without diarrhea. isolates ( = 23) recovered from fecal samples of 16 diarrheic and 7 non-diarrheic <1-y-old foals were subjected to whole-genome sequencing. The most common serovars detected in diarrheic foals were subsp. serovars Infantis and Minnesota. Multidrug resistance was observed in 9 of 23 isolates, with 8 of the 9 from diarrheic foals. All of the isolates contained at least 2 resistance genes, ...
Płoneczka-Janeczko K, Armstrong E, Siemieniuch-Tartanus M, Magdziarz M.The aim of the study was to explore and characterise healthy foals' eye microbiomes in the first two months of life. Unassigned: Conjunctival swabs were collected three times, not later than 12 h after delivery and again at the end of the first and the second months of life from six clinically healthy foals of the Polish Konik breed. The average interval between the first and second samplings was 33.3 days and between the second and third was 35.6 days. Next-generation sequencing performed on a MiSeq sequencer in paired-end technology was used to analyse the composition of the conjunctival mic...
François AC, Cesarini C, Taminiau B, Renaud B, Kruse CJ, Boemer F, van Loon G, Palmers K, Daube G, Wouters CP, Lecoq L, Gustin P, Votion DM.Hypoglycin A and methylenecyclopropylglycine are protoxins responsible for atypical myopathy in equids. These protoxins are converted into toxins that inhibit fatty acid β-oxidation, leading to blood accumulation of acylcarnitines and toxin conjugates, such as methylenecyclopropylacetyl-carnitine. The enzymes involved in this activation are also present in some prokaryotic cells, raising questions about the potential role of intestinal microbiota in the development of intoxication. Differences have been noted between the faecal microbiota of cograzers and atypical myopathy-affected horses. Ho...
Holley L, Creasey HN, Bedenice D, Reed S, Romualdo da Silva DR, Trautwein V, Mazan M, Widmer G.Glucocorticosteroids remain the most common pharmaceutical approach for the treatment of equine asthma but can be associated with significant side effects, including respiratory microbiome alterations. The goal of the study was to assess the impact of 2% lidocaine nebulization, a projected alternative treatment of equine asthma, on the healthy equine respiratory microbiota. A prospective, randomized, controlled, blinded, 2-way crossover study was performed, to assess the effect of 1 mg/kg 2% lidocaine (7 treatments over 4 days) on the equine respiratory microbiota compared to control horses (s...
Wang W, Gibson J, Horsman S, Mikkelsen D, Bertin FR.Altered gut microbiota has been associated with dopaminergic degenerative diseases in people, but studies on horses with pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) are lacking. Objective: Investigate the effect of PPID on fecal microbiota in horses. Methods: Nine horses with PPID and 13 age-matched control horses. Methods: Prospective control study. Fecal samples were collected bimonthly. Microbial analysis used 16S rRNA sequencing to determine the relative abundance at genus and phylum levels, assess alpha and beta diversity and identify core microbiota. Results: Horses with PPID had decrea...
Marsella R.Information on skin barrier in horses is limited. A study on the epidermal ultrastructure of normal and allergic horses documented disorganized amorphous intercellular lipids in the stratum corneum of allergic samples. These findings are similar to atopic canine and human skin. Currently, there is no published study comparing skin barrier function parameters between normal and allergic horses; thus, the functional implications of the ultrastructural changes are unknown. In normal horses, body location, gender, breed, and ambient conditions affect skin barrier parameters, such as Transepidermal...
Shi Y, Maga EA, Mienaltowski MJ.Diarrhea is a common disease that could threaten the welfare of newborn foals. While there are several forms of foal diarrhea, the etiologies can be considered known pathogenic or non-pathogenic in nature. Moreover, there are likely differences in the composition of microbial populations in the gastrointestinal tracts of foals depending upon the etiology of diarrhea. Our study aims to examine the microbial population in the feces of foals with both pathogenic and non-pathogenic diarrheas to discern differences in their microbial compositions. Results: Foal diarrhea samples tested positive or n...
Jarquín-Díaz VH, Dayaram A, Soilemetzidou ES, Desvars-Larrive A, Bohner J, Buuveibaatar B, Kaczensky P, Walzer C, Greenwood AD, Löber U.The microbial composition of host-associated microbiomes is influenced by co-evolutionary interactions, host genetics, domestication, and the environment. This study investigates the contribution of environmental microbiota from freshwater bodies to the gastrointestinal microbiomes of wild khulans (Equus hemionus hemionus, n = 21) and compares them with those of captive khulans (n = 12) and other equids-Przewalski's horse (n = 82) and domestic horse (n = 26). Using PacBio technology and the LotuS pipeline for 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we analyze microbial diversity and conduct ...
Żak-Bochenek A, Żebrowska-Różańska P, Bajzert J, Łaczmański Ł, Szponar B, Siwińska N, Gładysz K, Sikorska K, Chełmońska-Soyta A.Oral probiotic dietary supplements are widely used in veterinary medicine, including in horses. It is hypothesized that the presence of probiotic strains can both modulate the intestinal microbiota and affect mucosal immunity parameters. Such a study has not yet been conducted in horses. Unassigned: This study involved 12 healthy horses, which were randomly divided into a control group and a group that received a commercial oral probiotic formula containing , or for 84 days. Fecal samples were collected from all horses on day 0 (D0), 28 days after starting the probiotic (D28), 56 days (D56),...
Carter MM, Leatherwood JL, Paris BL, Moore GE, George JM, Martinez RE, Karges K, Cox JR, Arnold CE, Glass KG, Bradbery AN, Rodiles A, Wickersham TA.Thirty mature Quarter Horse geldings were used in a completely randomized 32-d study to test the hypotheses that supplemental live Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-1077 improves apparent digestion, stabilizes the fecal pH, reduces gut permeability, maintains microbial communities, and decreases inflammation in horses fed a high-starch diet. Horses were stratified by body weight, age, and body condition score (BCS) to one of two treatments: concentrate formulated with 2g starch • kg BW-1 • meal-1 (CON; n=15) or the same concentrate top-dressed with 25g/d Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-1077 ...
Styková E, Valocký I, Kačírová J, Fecskeová LK.Equine pastern dermatitis (EPD) is a multifactorial disease with a change in the skin microbiome. The present study monitored the influence of Weissella cibaria Biocenol™ 4/8 D37 CCM 9015 stabilized on alginite on the skin microbiota of healthy horses and model patients with EPD. Based on clinical signs, EPD lesions were identified as exudative or proliferative forms. A comparison of the initial microbial community based on 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between healthy vs. exudative (R = 0.52, p = 0.003) and exudative vs. ...
Bernabe MCM, Fonseca BB, Silva MVC, Pedrosa IE, Silva MB, Sommerfeld S, de Sousa ALP, de Leva Resende BC, Sousa ACP, Dos Santos Freitas A....Endometritis is one of the main reproductive disorders in mares and due to the increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance, the use of probiotics in the prevention and treatment of endometritis in mares has gained interest, given their potential to restore and maintain a healthy uterine microbiota. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial properties of total metabolites of Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA) and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (LP) against common equine endometrial pathogenic bacteria in vitro (Acinetobacter baumannii, Escherichia coli (1), Escherichia co...
Nogacka AM, García A, de Los Reyes-Gavilán CG, Arboleya S, Gueimonde M.Horses are hindgut fermenters that harbor a complex intestinal microbiota (IM) which provides key enzymes aiding in the breakdown of complex carbohydrates present in their herbivorous diet. Therefore, these animals are deeply dependent on their IM for digestion and nutrition. Consequently, IM imbalances may result in alteration of fermentation patterns with impact on the animal health and the risk of disease. In this context, strategies for assisting the maintenance of a healthy IM in horses are of interest. However, there is limited research concerning the use of probiotics to improve hindgut...
Smith MZ, York M, Townsend KS, Martin LM, Gull T, Coghill LM, Ericsson AC, Johnson PJ.Whereas restoration of fecal consistency after treatment with clioquinol for chronic diarrhea and free fecal water syndrome has been attributed to its antiprotozoal properties, actions of clioquinol on the colonic bacterial microbiota have not been investigated. Objective: Characterize the dynamics of fecal microbial diversity before, during, and after PO administration of clioquinol to healthy horses. Methods: Experimental prospective cohort study using a single horse group. Methods: Eight healthy adult horses received PO clioquinol (10 g, daily) for 7 days. Feces were obtained daily for ...
Chow L, Kawahisa-Piquini G, Bass L, Hendrickson D, Patel A, Rockow M, Dow S, Pezzanite LM.Osteoarthritis (OA) is increasingly thought to be a multifactorial disease in which sustained gut inflammation serves as a continued source of inflammatory mediators driving degenerative processes at distant sites such as joints. The objective of this study was to use the equine model of naturally occurring obesity associated OA to compare the fecal microbiome in OA and health and correlate those findings to differential gene expression synovial fluid (SF) cells, circulating leukocytes and cytokine levels (plasma, SF) towards improved understanding of the interplay between microbiome and immun...
Brandi LA, Nunes AT, Faleiros CA, Poleti MD, Oliveira ECM, Schmidt NT, Sousa RLM, Fukumasu H, Balieiro JCC, Brandi RA.Different energy sources are often used in horse diets to enhance health and performance. Understanding how diet impacts the cecal and fecal microbiota is crucial for meeting the nutritional needs of horses. High-throughput sequencing and qPCR were used to compare the fecal and cecal microbiota of five healthy horses receiving three different diets: hay diet (HAY), hay + starch and sugar (SS), and hay + fiber and oil ingredients (FO). Assessment of short-chain fatty acids, pH, and buffer capacity was also performed. The HAY diet was associated with the highest values of fecal pH; the FO and SS...
Villa RE, Azimonti G, Bonos E, Christensen H, Durjava M, Dusemund B, Gehring R, Glandorf B, Kouba M, López-Alonso M, Marcon F, Nebbia C, Pechová A....Following a request from the European Commission, EFSA was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the safety and efficacy of a preparation of CNCM I-1077 as a zootechnical feed additive for several animal species. The additive, existing in a not-coated and a coated form, is currently authorised for use in feed for calves, cattle for fattening, dairy cows, dairy goats and dairy sheep, lambs, all minor ruminant species for fattening and rearing, horses and camelids for fattening and rearing. This application regards the request for the extension of use in all ruminants and camelids reared for...
Vasseur M, Lepers R, Langevin N, Julliand S, Grimm P.This pilot study sought to explore the contribution of the large intestine microbiota to energy metabolism and exercise performance through its ability to degrade fibers into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). To investigate this, a correlational study was carried out on athlete horses under the same management conditions. Fecal microbiota diversity and composition, fibrolytic efficiency and SCFAs were analyzed. An incremental running test was carried out to estimate the maximal running speed (MRS) of the horses, and blood samples were taken to measure energy metabolism parameters. MRS was posit...
Thomson P, Garrido D, Santibáñez R, Lara F.The gut microbiome plays a critical role in maintaining horse health, influencing digestion, immunity, and overall well-being. However, in certain conditions like colic, there is evidence of significant alterations in the microbial community. To analyze the composition of the fecal microbiome and the enriched predicted metabolic functions of horses with colic compared to a control group, 14 horses with colic and 14 control horses were recruited. From a stool sample, DNA extraction was carried out for subsequent 16S rRNA metagenomic analysis. The composition of the microbiome was analyzed from ...
Bishop RC, Kemper AM, Clark LV, Wilkins PA, McCoy AM.Equine gastrointestinal microbial communities vary across the gastrointestinal tract and in response to diet or disease. Understanding the composition and stability of gastric fluid microbiota in healthy horses is a prerequisite to understanding changes associated with the development of disease. The objective of this study was to describe microbial communities in the gastric fluid and feces of healthy horses longitudinally. Horses were maintained on pasture (6 weeks), stabled (5 weeks), then returned to pasture. A consistent forage diet was provided throughout. Native gastric fluid and feces ...
Busch F, Leal ODA, Siebers N, Brüggemann N.During composting of organic waste, nitrogen is lost through gaseous forms and ion leaching. Biochar has been shown to capture mineral nitrogen (N: NH and NO ) from compost, which we hypothesize reduces NO formation. However, associating N captured by biochar with the dynamics of NO and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during composting remains unstudied and was the aim of this work. We composted (outdoor for 148 days) together kitchen scraps (43.3% dw, where dw is dry weight), horse manure (40.9% dw), and wheat (Triticum aestivum L) straw (15.8% dw) without (Control) or with biochar (Bc,...
Fahey MJ, Harman RM, Thomas MA, Pugliese BR, Peters-Kennedy J, Delco ML, Van de Walle GR.We aimed to study the antimicrobial and pro-healing potential of equine mesenchymal stromal cell secreted products (i.e. secretome), collected as conditioned media (mesenchymal stromal cell-conditioned media, MSC CM), in a novel in vivo model of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)-inoculated equine thorax wounds. Methods: Prospective in vivo study. Methods: Two Thoroughbred geldings. Methods: Six full-thickness cutaneous wounds were created bilaterally on the dorsal thorax of two horses (n = 12 wounds/horse). Wounds on the left thoraces were inoculated with MRSA on day 0. Al...
Takahashi Y, Niwa H, Ebisuda Y, Mukai K, Yoshida T, Raidal S, Padalino B, Ohmura H.Protection of horse welfare during transport is crucial. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of head and neck restraint on behavior and airway bacteria. Unassigned: In a randomized crossover study, six healthy Thoroughbreds were transported by road for 22 h in an individual bay with tight head restraint (50 cm short-rope) or loose head restraint (95 cm long-rope). Behavioral parameters relating to head position, eating, and stress were monitored during transportation. Tracheal wash samples were obtained 6 days before and immediately after transport for bacterial culture a...
Mach N, Ruet A, Clark A, Bars-Cortina D, Ramayo-Caldas Y, Crisci E, Pennarun S, Dhorne-Pollet S, Foury A, Moisan MP, Lansade L.We simultaneously measured the fecal microbiota and multiple environmental and host-related variables in a cohort of 185 healthy horses reared in similar conditions during a period of eight months. The pattern of rare bacteria varied from host to host and was largely different between two time points. Among a suite of variables examined, equitation factors were highly associated with the gut microbiota variability, evoking a relationship between gut microbiota and high levels of physical and mental stressors. Behavioral indicators that pointed toward a compromised welfare state (e.g. stereotyp...
Blackmore TM, Dugdale A, Argo CM, Curtis G, Pinloche E, Harris PA, Worgan HJ, Girdwood SE, Dougal K, Newbold CJ, McEwan NR.The horse, as a hindgut fermenter, is reliant on its intestinal bacterial population for efficient diet utilisation. However, sudden disturbance of this population can result in severe colic or laminitis, both of which may require euthanasia. This study therefore aimed to determine the temporal stability of the bacterial population of faecal samples from six ponies maintained on a formulated high fibre diet. Bacterial 16S rRNA terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) analyses of 10 faecal samples collected from 6 ponies at regular intervals over 72 hour trial periods identifie...
Walshe N, Duggan V, Cabrera-Rubio R, Crispie F, Cotter P, Feehan O, Mulcahy G.The interactions between parasitic helminths and gut microbiota are considered to be an important, although as yet incompletely understood, factor in the regulation of immunity, inflammation and a range of diseases. Infection with intestinal helminths is ubiquitous in grazing horses, with cyathostomins (about 50 species of which are recorded) predominating. Consequences of infection include both chronic effects, and an acute inflammatory syndrome, acute larval cyathostominosis, which sometimes follows removal of adult helminths by administration of anthelmintic drugs. The presence of cyathosto...
Li C, Li X, Guo R, Ni W, Liu K, Liu Z, Dai J, Xu Y, Abduriyim S, Wu Z, Zeng Y, Lei B, Zhang Y, Wang Y, Zeng W, Zhang Q, Chen C, Qiao J, Liu C, Hu S.As a domesticated species vital to humans, horses are raised worldwide as a source of mechanical energy for sports, leisure, food production, and transportation. The gut microbiota plays an important role in the health, diseases, athletic performance, and behaviour of horses. Here, using approximately 2.2 Tb of metagenomic sequencing data from gut samples from 242 horses, including 110 samples from the caecum and 132 samples from the rectum (faeces), we assembled 4142 microbial metagenome-assembled genomes (MAG), 4015 (96.93%) of which appear to correspond to new species. From long-read data, ...
McKinney CA, Oliveira BCM, Bedenice D, Paradis MR, Mazan M, Sage S, Sanchez A, Widmer G.Fecal microbial transplantation (FMT), a treatment for certain gastrointestinal conditions associated with dysbiosis in people, is also empirically employed in horses with colitis. This study used microbiota high-throughput sequencing to compare the fecal microbial profile of healthy horses to that of geriatric microbial transplant recipients experiencing diarrhea and tested whether FMT restores microbiota diversity. To evaluate the effect of environment and donor characteristics on the intestinal microbiota, fecal samples were collected per rectum from 15 healthy young-adult (2-12 years) and ...
Glinsky MJ, Smith RM, Spires HR, Davis CL.Three experiments, each utilizing three ponies, were conducted using a mixed VFA solution of [1−14C] acetate, [1−14C] propionate and [2–33H] butyrate to determine VFA production rates in the cecum of the pony. Diet A used in experiment 1, contained a forage to grain ratio of 1:2, while diet B, used in experiments 2 and 3, contained a forage to grain ratio of 3:1. Experiment 1, in which a constant infusion technique was used, resulted in net VFA production rates (mmoles/min) of 3.667 to 3.977 (x̄=3.836) for acetate, .410 to 1.664 (x̄=1.213) for propionate and .342 to 1.124 (x̄=.629) fo...
Santos AS, Rodrigues MA, Bessa RJ, Ferreira LM, Martin-Rosset W.Having evolved as a grazing animal, a horse's digestive physiology is characterized by rapid gastric transit, a rapid but intense enzymatic digestion along the small intestine, and a long and intense microbial fermentation in the large intestine. The process of understanding and describing feed degradation mechanisms in the equine digestive system in general, and in the hindgut ecosystem in particular, is essential. Regardless of its importance for the nutritional status of the host, the significance of the cecum-colon ecosystem has not yet been fully understood, and few reports have focused d...
Mackie RI, Wilkins CA.Samples from the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, as well as from the cecum and colon, were obtained from 11 mature grass-fed horses. Viable counts of total culturable and proteolytic bacteria were made on habitat-simulating media containing 40% clarified ruminal fluid. The mean pHs in the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum were 6.32, 7.10, and 7.47, respectively; the mean pH decreased to 6.7 in the hindgut. The acetate concentration increased along the length of the small intestine and was the only volatile fatty acid present in this gut segment. Molar proportions of acetate, propionate, and butyrate ...
Liu G, Bou G, Su S, Xing J, Qu H, Zhang X, Wang X, Zhao Y, Dugarjaviin M.Gastrointestinal microbiota has significant impact on the nutrition and health of monogastric herbivores animals including donkey. However, so far the microbiota in different gastrointestinal compartments of healthy donkey has not been described. Therefore, we investigated the abundance and function of microbiota at different sites of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) (foregut: stomach, duodenum, jejunum and ileum; hindgut: cecum, ventral colon, dorsal colon, and rectum) of healthy adult donkeys mainly based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing and phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruc...
Ang L, Vinderola G, Endo A, Kantanen J, Jingfeng C, Binetti A, Burns P, Qingmiao S, Suying D, Zujiang Y, Rios-Covian D, Mantziari A, Beasley S....Domesticated horses live under different conditions compared with their extinct wild ancestors. While housed, medicated and kept on a restricted source of feed, the microbiota of domesticated horses is hypothesized to be altered. We assessed the fecal microbiome of 57 domestic and feral horses from different locations on three continents, observing geographical differences. A higher abundance of eukaryota (p < 0.05) and viruses (p < 0.05) and lower of archaea (p < 0.05) were found in feral animals when compared with domestic ones. The abundance of genes coding for microbe-...
De La Torre U, Henderson JD, Furtado KL, Pedroja M, Elenamarie O, Mora A, Pechanec MY, Maga EA, Mienaltowski MJ.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...
Milinovich GJ, Trott DJ, Burrell PC, Croser EL, Al Jassim RA, Morton JM, van Eps AW, Pollitt CC.Carbohydrate-induced laminitis in horses is characterized by marked changes in the composition of the hindgut microbiota, from a predominantly Gram-negative population to one dominated by Gram-positive bacteria. The objective of this study was to monitor changes in the relative abundance of selected hindgut bacteria that have previously been implicated in the pathophysiology of equine laminitis using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Caecal cannulae were surgically implanted in five Standardbred horses and laminitis induced by oral administration of a bolus dose of oligofructose. Caec...
Kunz IGZ, Reed KJ, Metcalf JL, Hassel DM, Coleman RJ, Hess TM, Coleman SJ.The gastrointestinal microbiota (GIM) plays an essential role in maintaining intestinal homeostasis with disruptions having profound effects on the wellbeing of the host animal. Parasitic infection is a long-standing issue for the equine industry, and the use of anthelmintic drugs for parasite control has long been standard practice. The impact of anthelmintic treatment on the GIM in healthy horses is not well known. This study evaluated the hypothesis that anthelmintic administration will alter the equine fecal microbiota in horses without an observed helminth infection. Ten horses were treat...
Plancade S, Clark A, Philippe C, Helbling JC, Moisan MP, Esquerré D, Le Moyec L, Robert C, Barrey E, Mach N.An integrated analysis of gut microbiota, blood biochemical and metabolome in 52 endurance horses was performed. Clustering by gut microbiota revealed the existence of two communities mainly driven by diet as host properties showed little effect. Community 1 presented lower richness and diversity, but higher dominance and rarity of species, including some pathobionts. Moreover, its microbiota composition was tightly linked to host blood metabolites related to lipid metabolism and glycolysis at basal time. Despite the lower fiber intake, community type 1 appeared more specialized to produce ace...
Respondek F, Goachet AG, Julliand V.Prebiotic compounds, such as short-chain fructooligosaccharides (scFOS), have been shown to improve health, welfare, or both, in several species, but few studies have been conducted in horses, despite the sensitivity of their hindgut microflora. We hypothesized that prebiotic oligosaccharides, known to be able to stabilize the intestinal microflora in other species, would be of importance in horses. Our study was designed to evaluate the effect of scFOS supplementation on the equine intestinal microflora and to assess its effectiveness in reducing hindgut microbial disturbances related to sudd...
Su S, Zhao Y, Liu Z, Liu G, Du M, Wu J, Bai D, Li B, Bou G, Zhang X, Dugarjaviin M.The intestinal microbiota plays an important role in the health and metabolism of the host. Next-generation sequencing technology has enabled the characterization of the gut microbiota of several animal species. We analyzed the intestinal microbiota in six different parts of the gastrointestinal tracts (GITs) of five Mongolian horses by sequencing the 16S rRNA gene V3-V4 hypervariable region. All horses were kept in the natural habitat of the Inner Mongolia grassland. Significant differences were observed among the microbiota compositions of the distinct GIT regions. In addition, while the mic...
Harlow BE, Lawrence LM, Hayes SH, Crum A, Flythe MD.Starch from corn is less susceptible to equine small intestinal digestion than starch from oats, and starch that reaches the hindgut can be utilized by the microbiota. The objective of the current study was to examine the effects of starch source on equine fecal microbiota. Thirty horses were assigned to treatments: control (hay only), HC (high corn), HO (high oats), LC (low corn), LO (low oats), and LW (low pelleted wheat middlings). Horses received an all-forage diet (2 wk; d -14 to d -1) before the treatment diets (2 wk; d 1 to 14). Starch was introduced gradually so that horses received 50...
Jensen-Jarolim E, Pacios LF, Bianchini R, Hofstetter G, Roth-Walter F.Owners and their domestic animals via skin shedding and secretions, mutually exchange microbiomes, potential pathogens and innate immune molecules. Among the latter especially lipocalins are multifaceted: they may have an immunomodulatory function and, furthermore, they represent one of the most important animal allergen families. The amino acid identities, as well as their structures by superposition modeling were compared among human lipocalins, hLCN1 and hLCN2, and most important animal lipocalin allergens, such as Can f 1, Can f 2 and Can f 4 from dog, Fel d 4 from cats, Bos d 5 from cow's...
Flickinger EA, Van Loo J, Fahey GC.Inulin and oligofructose are prebiotic oligosaccharides fermented in the large intestine. This article provides an extensive review of the effects of these oligosaccharides on gastrointestinal characteristics (microflora, pathogen control, epithelial cell proliferation, putrefactive compound production, fecal characteristics, and nutrient digestibility) and systemic metabolism of carbohydrates, nitrogen, lipids, and minerals in dogs, cats, horses, calves, pigs, poultry, and rabbits. In addition, intake of inulin and oligofructose and considerations in their supplementation to animal diets are ...
Garner HE, Moore JN, Johnson JH, Clark L, Amend JF, Tritschler LG, Coffmann JR, Sprouse RF, Hutcheson DP, Salem CA.Caecal fluid samples collected 8 and 24 hours after carbohydrate overload were quantitatively compared to control samples in terms of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Concomitant increases in lactic acid-producing bacteria and decreases in Gram negative bacteria were substantiated during the onset of acute laminitis. Progressive decreases in caecal fluid pH were also quantitated. Although endotoxin assays of caecal fluid and blood were not done, the caecal flora changes suggest its presence during the onset of acute laminitis.
Fillion-Bertrand G, Dickson RP, Boivin R, Lavoie JP, Huffnagle GB, Leclere M.There is evidence that the lung microbiome differs between patients with asthma and healthy humans, but the effect of environmental conditions and medication is unknown and difficult to study. Equine asthma is a naturally occurring chronic airway disease characterized by reversible airway inflammation and bronchoconstriction upon exposure to inhaled antigens. In the present study, we evaluated the effect that environmental conditions and disease status have on pulmonary, nasal, and oral microbiomes. Six asthmatic and six healthy horses were studied while at pasture ("low antigen exposure"), as...
Swanson SP, Helaszek C, Buck WB, Rood HD, Haschek WM.The role of faecal and intestinal microflora on the metabolism of trichothecene mycotoxins was examined in this study. Suspensions of microflora obtained from the faeces of horses, cattle, dogs, rats, swine and chickens were incubated anaerobically with the trichothecene mycotoxin, diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS). Micro-organisms from rats, cattle and swine completely biotransformed DAS, primarily to the deacylated deepoxidation products, deepoxy monoacetoxyscirpenol (DE MAS) and deepoxy scirpentriol (DE SCP). By contrast, faecal microflora from chickens, horses and dogs failed to reduce the epoxide ...
Al Jassim RA, Scott PT, Trebbin AL, Trott D, Pollitt CC.Seventy-two lactic acid producing bacterial isolates (excluding streptococci) were cultured from the gastrointestinal tract of six horses. Two of the horses were orally dosed with raftilose to induce lactic acidosis and laminitis while the remaining four were maintained on a roughage diet. Near complete 16S rDNA was amplified by PCR from the genomic DNA of each isolate. Following RFLP analysis with the restriction enzymes MboI, HhaI and HinfI, the PCR products from the 18 isolates that produced L- and/or D-lactate were subsequently cloned and sequenced. DNA sequence analysis indicated that the...
McKinney CA, Bedenice D, Pacheco AP, Oliveira BCM, Paradis MR, Mazan M, Widmer G.Fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) is empirically implemented in horses with colitis to facilitate resolution of diarrhea. The purpose of this study was to assess FMT as a clinical treatment and modulator of fecal microbiota in hospitalized horses with colitis. A total of 22 horses with moderate to severe diarrhea, consistent with a diagnosis of colitis, were enrolled at two referral hospitals (L1: n = 12; L2: n = 10). FMT was performed in all 12 patients on 3 consecutive days at L1, while treatment at L2 consisted of standard care without FMT. Manure was collected once daily for 4 days fro...
Mullen KR, Yasuda K, Divers TJ, Weese JS.While certainly not a novel concept, faecal microbiota transplant (FMT) has recently garnered renewed interest in veterinary medicine due to its remarkable success in treating recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in man. There is a dearth of information on indications and efficacy of FMT for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders in the horse; however, based on evidence in man and other veterinary species, and anecdotal reports in horses, FMT may be a useful treatment for selected cases of acute and chronic diarrhoea and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the horse. In the abs...
Massacci FR, Clark A, Ruet A, Lansade L, Costa M, Mach N.Understanding gut microbiota similarities and differences across breeds in horses has the potential to advance approaches aimed at personalized microbial modifications, particularly those involved in improving sport athletic performance. Here, we explore whether faecal microbiota composition based on faecal 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing varies across six different sport breeds at two time points 8 months apart within a cohort of 189 healthy horses cared for under similar conditions. Lusitano horses presented the smallest and Hanoverians the greatest bacterial diversity. We found subtle bu...
Arroyo LG, Rossi L, Santos BP, Gomez DE, Surette MG, Costa MC.The aim of this study was to compare the mucosal and luminal content microbiota of the cecum and colon of healthy and diarrheic horses. Marked differences in the richness and in the community composition between the mucosal and luminal microbiota of the cecum and large colon of horses with colitis were observed. Microbial dysbiosis occurs in horses with colitis at different levels of the intestinal tract, and microbiota composition is different between the mucosa and luminal content of diarrheic horses. The changes in some key taxa associated with dysbiosis in the equine intestinal microbiota,...
Grimm P, Combes S, Pascal G, Cauquil L, Julliand V.Starchy diets can induce hindgut dysbiosis in horses. The present study evaluated the impact of a yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and microalgae (Aurantiochytrium limacinum) supplementation on caecal, colonic and faecal microbial ecosystem and on blood inflammatory parameters of horses fed high-fibre or high-starch diets. Six fistulated geldings in a 2 × 2 Latin-square design were alternatively supplemented and received during each period 100 % hay (4 weeks) followed by a 56/44 hay/barley diet (3 weeks). Caecal, colonic and faecal samples were collected 4 h after the morning meal three times...
Warzecha CM, Coverdale JA, Janecka JE, Leatherwood JL, Pinchak WE, Wickersham TA, McCann JC.The objective of this study was to determine bacterial community profiles of the equine cecum in response to abrupt inclusion of varying levels of dietary starch. Seven cecally cannulated Quarter Horse geldings (497 to 580 kg) were used in a crossover design with two 28-d periods and a 28-d washout between each. Horses were randomly assigned to dietary treatments consisting of a commercial concentrate offered as fed at either 0.6 (low starch [LS]) or 1.2% BW (high starch [HS]) daily that was divided into 2 meals at 12-h intervals. Prior to the start of each period, horses were allowed ad libit...
Freeman K, Woods E, Welsby S, Percival SL, Cochrane CA.Evidence of biofilms in human chronic wounds are thought to be responsible for preventing healing in a timely manner. However, biofilm evidence in horse wounds has not yet been documented. Consequently, this study aimed to determine whether biofilms could be detected in wounds, and to investigate the microbiology of chronic wounds in horses. Prior to analysis, wound surfaces were irrigated with 5 mL of sterile saline to remove debris. All wounds were swabbed twice (1 cm2 area) using sterile cotton-tipped swabs. In addition to this, 2 tissue biopsies were taken to investigate evidence of biofil...
