Effect of high contents of dietary animal-derived protein or carbohydrates on canine faecal microbiota

Abstract

BackgroundConsiderable evidence suggests that food impacts both the gastro-intestinal (GI) function and the microbial ecology of the canine GI tract. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of high-carbohydrate (HC), high-protein (HP) and dry commercial (DC) diets on the canine colonic microbiota in Beagle dogs. Diets were allocated according to the Graeco-Latin square design. For this purpose, microbial DNA was isolated from faecal samples and separated by density gradient centrifugation, resulting in specific profiling based on the guanine-cytosine content (%G + C). In addition, 16 S rRNA gene amplicons were obtained from the most abundant %G + C peaks and analysed by sequence analysis, producing a total of 720 non-redundant sequences (240 sequences per diet).ResultsThe DC diet sample showed high abundance of representatives of the orders Clostridiales, Lactobacillales, Coriobacteriales and Bacteroidales. Sequence diversity was highest for DC diet samples and included representatives of the orders Lactobacillales and Bacteroidales, which were not detected in samples from the HP and HC diets. These latter two diets also had reduced levels of representatives of the family Lachnospiraceae, specifically Clostridial cluster XIVa. The HC diet favoured representatives of the order Erysipelotrichales, more specifically the Clostridial cluster XVIII, while the HP diet favoured representatives of the order Fusobacteriales.ConclusionsThis study detected Coriobacteriales in dog faeces, possibly due to the non-selective nature of the %G + C profiling method used in combination with sequencing. Moreover, our work demonstrates that the effect of diet on faecal microbiota can be explained based on the metabolic properties of the detected microbial taxa.

Impacts of diet on hindgut microbiota and short-chain fatty acids in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus)

“…As opposed to FM samples, Lachnospiraceae and Erysipelotrichaceae (both belong to Firmicutes) were the dominant groups in CF and SG samples. We found a significant positive correlation between these two groups, which is in good agreement with the positive correlation between the proportions of Lachnospiraceae and Erysipelotrichaceae and plant‐based diets observed in many mammals, including humans (Hang et al., ; Hayashi, Sakamoto & Benno, ; Thoetkiattikul et al., ). Lachnospiraceae are a butyrate‐producing superfamily (including Clostridium XIVa and IV subgroups) whose genomes contain numerous genes belonging to a large number of CAZyme families, including members of GH and PL families, which can break down a wide variety of complex carbohydrates found in plants, which are usually indigestible for animals (Biddle, Stewart, Blanchard & Leschine, ; Thoetkiattikul et al., ).…”

Impact of diets with a high content of greaves-meal protein or carbohydrates on faecal characteristics, volatile fatty acids and faecal calprotectin concentrations in healthy dogs

“…Additionally, we reported Coriobacteriales in dog faeces: a finding that was reported in only one other recent study [36]. The hypothesis for the current study was that the high protein greaves-meal diet influences the measured faecal parameters, as it was found to remarkably increase the faecal populations belonging to the order Fusobacteriales [32]. Therefore, our aim was to study whether the effect of dietary greaves-meal and maize starch on faecal microbiota can be associated with altered faecal characteristics, VFAs, and canine faecal calprotectin.…”

“…The current study is the hitherto unreported part of a previously published study [32], in which we investigated the effects of the above mentioned diets on canine faecal microbiota. In that study, we found that faecal samples from the greaves-meal diet fed, dogs favoured growth of species of Fusobacteriales .…”

Using Gross Energy Improves Metabolizable Energy Predictive Equations for Pet Foods Whereas Undigested Protein and Fiber Content Predict Stool Quality

“…These data support the hypothesis that microbial changes associated with increased protein in the large bowel include increased numbers of proteolytic bacteria, which result in increased production of ammonia and sulfur containing compounds that are detrimental to bowel health. Microbial population shifts in response to dietary protein load have been demonstrated in cats [16] and dogs [17], [20]. There was also a positive benefit for dogs and cats on stool quality if foods had greater amount of fiber delivered to the large bowel.…”