Administration of a Synbiotic Containing Does Not Significantly Alter Fecal Microbiota Richness or Diversity in Dogs With and Without Food-Responsive Chronic Enteropathy.

Canine chronic enteropathies (CE) are a group of intestinal diseases that can be categorized based on treatment response into diet- or food- responsive enteropathy (FRD), antibiotic-responsive enteropathy, steroid-responsive enteropathy, and non-responsive enteropathy. CE can often be associated with intestinal dysbiosis and thus administration of probiotic or synbiotic products may provide a useful tool for the management of some of these patients. (EF) is a probiotic strain included in a commercially available synbiotic for small animals, however its impact on the microbial communities in dogs with FRD has not yet been evaluated. The administration of a synbiotic will lead to a significant difference of the fecal microbial composition and/or diversity in dogs with FRD, and these changes are not attributable to diet change alone. Twelve dogs with FRD fed a hydrolyzed protein diet received either a synbiotic (EF, fructooligosaccharides, gum Arabic) or placebo. Fecal samples were taken before and 6 weeks into treatment. Fecal samples were also acquired from 8 healthy dogs before and 6 weeks after being switched to the same hydrolyzed protein diet as their sole food. Bacterial DNA was extracted from fecal samples and next generation sequencing based on the 16S rRNA genes was performed. Microbial composition and diversity between groups were compared using QIIME. There was a small increase in species diversity in the feces of dogs with FRD treated with synbiotics. However, there were no significant differences in microbial community composition before and after 6 weeks in either the synbiotic or placebo treated dogs with FRD or the healthy dogs. In all groups, large individual variations were observed. No changes in microbial composition were observed in diseased or healthy dogs with diet change alone. However, administration of a synbiotic increased bacterial richness in both groups.