Scotland's Rural College, Craibstone Estate, Aberdeen, UK.
Scotland's Rural College, Kings Buildings, Edinburgh, UK.
BMC Vet Res. 2020 Mar 4;16(1):78. doi: 10.1186/s12917-020-02295-6.
Obesity is an important equine welfare issue. Whilst dietary restriction is the most effective weight-loss tool, individual animals range in their weight-loss propensity. Gastrointestinal-derived bacteria play a fundamental role in host-health and have been associated with obesity and weight-loss in other species. This study evaluated the faecal microbiome (next-generation sequencing of 16S rRNA genes) of 15 obese Welsh Mountain pony mares, in the same 11-week period across 2 years (n = 8 Year 1; n = 7 Year 2). Following a 4-week acclimation period (pre-diet phase) during which time individuals were fed the same hay to maintenance (2% body mass (BM) as daily dry matter (DM) intake), animals underwent a 7-week period of dietary restriction (1% BM hay as daily DM intake). Faeces were sampled on the final 3 days of the pre-diet phase and the final 3 days of the dietary restriction phase. Bacterial communities were determined using Next Generation Sequencing of amplified V1-V2 hypervariable regions of bacterial 16S rRNA.
Losses in body mass ranged from 7.11 to 11.59%. Changes in the faecal microbiome composition following weight-loss included a reduction in the relative abundance of Firmicutes and Tenericutes and a reduction in indices of bacterial diversity. Pre-diet diversity was negatively associated with weight-loss. Pre-diet faecal acetate concentration was a strong predictor of subsequent weight-loss and negatively associated with Sphaerochaeta (Spirochaetes phylum) abundance. When animals were divided into 3 groups (high, mid, low) based overall weight loss, pre-diet bacterial community structure was found to have the greatest divergence between the high and low weight-loss groups (R = 0.67, p < 0.01), following PERMANOVA and ANOSIM analysis.
Weight-loss in this group of ponies was associated with lower pre-diet faecal bacterial diversity and greater pre-diet acetate concentration. Overall, these data support a role for the faecal microbiome in weight-loss propensity in ponies and provide a baseline for research evaluating elements of the faecal microbiome in predicting weight-loss success in larger cohorts.
肥胖是一个重要的马福利问题。虽然饮食限制是最有效的减肥工具，但个体动物的减肥倾向各不相同。胃肠道来源的细菌在宿主健康中起着至关重要的作用，并与其他物种的肥胖和减肥有关。本研究评估了 15 匹肥胖的威尔士山地矮种马母马的粪便微生物组（16S rRNA 基因的下一代测序），在 2 年的同一 11 周期间（n=8 年 1；n=7 年 2）。在为期 4 周的适应期（饮食前阶段）中，个体以维持体重（2%体重（BM）作为每日干物质（DM）摄入量）的相同干草喂养，然后进行为期 7 周的饮食限制（1%体重的干草作为每日 DM 摄入量）。在饮食前阶段的最后 3 天和饮食限制阶段的最后 3 天采集粪便样本。使用细菌 16S rRNA 的扩增 V1-V2 高变区的下一代测序确定细菌群落。
体重减轻范围为 7.11%至 11.59%。减肥后粪便微生物组组成的变化包括厚壁菌门和柔膜菌门的相对丰度降低，细菌多样性指数降低。饮食前的多样性与减肥呈负相关。饮食前粪便乙酸浓度是随后减肥的有力预测指标，与 Sphaerochaeta（螺旋体门）丰度呈负相关。当根据总体体重减轻将动物分为 3 组（高、中、低）时，发现饮食前细菌群落结构在高体重减轻组和低体重减轻组之间存在最大差异（R=0.67，p<0.01），经 PERMANOVA 和 ANOSIM 分析。
该组矮种马的减肥与饮食前粪便细菌多样性降低和饮食前乙酸浓度升高有关。总的来说，这些数据支持粪便微生物组在矮种马减肥倾向中的作用，并为研究在更大的队列中评估粪便微生物组在预测减肥成功方面的元素提供了基线。
