Willette Jaclyn A, Pitta Dipti, Indugu Nagaraju, Vecchiarelli Bonnie, Hennessy Meagan L, Dobbie Tamara, Southwood Louise L
Departments of Clinical Studies, New Bolton Center, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, 382 West Street Rd, Kennett Square, PA, 19348, USA.
Present address: Department of Clinical Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
BMC Vet Res. 2021 Jan 5;17(1):3. doi: 10.1186/s12917-020-02706-8.
An association between equine gastrointestinal disease causing colic signs and changes in faecal bacterial microbiota has been identified. The reasons for these changes and their clinical relevance has not been investigated. Withholding feed, which is an integral part of managing horses with colic, may contribute to the observed changes in the microbiota and impact interpretation of findings in horses with colic. Study objectives were, therefore, to determine the effect of withholding feed for 24 h on equine faecal bacterial microbiota in healthy mares to differentiate the effects of withholding feed from the changes potentially associated with the disease.
Species richness and Shannon diversity (alpha diversity) were significantly lower at the late withheld (10-24 h post withholding feed) and early refed (2-12 h post re-feeding) time points compared to samples from fed horses (P < 0.01). Restoration of species richness and diversity began to occur at the late refed (18-24 h post re-feeding) time points. Horses having feed withheld had a distinct bacterial population compared to fed horses (beta diversity). Bacteroidetes BS11 and Firmicutes Christensenellaceae, Christensenella, and Dehalobacteriaceae were significantly increased in horses withheld from feed primarily during the late withheld and early refed time points. Bacteroidetes Marinilabiaceae and Prevotellaceae, Firmicutes Veillonellaceae, Anaerovibrio, and Bulleidia, and Proteobacteria GMD14H09 were significantly decreased in horses with feed withheld at late withheld, early refed, and late refed time periods (P < 0.01). Changes in commensal gut microbiota were not significant between groups.
Withholding feed has a significant effect on faecal bacterial microbiota diversity and composition particularly following at least 10 h of withholding feed and should be taken into consideration when interpreting data on the equine faecal bacterial microbiota in horses.
已确定马的胃肠道疾病引起绞痛体征与粪便细菌微生物群变化之间存在关联。这些变化的原因及其临床相关性尚未得到研究。禁食是治疗患绞痛马的一个重要组成部分，可能导致观察到的微生物群变化，并影响对患绞痛马的研究结果的解读。因此，本研究的目的是确定健康母马禁食24小时对马粪便细菌微生物群的影响，以区分禁食的影响与可能与疾病相关的变化。
与喂食马的样本相比，在禁食后期（禁食饲料后10 - 24小时）和重新喂食早期（重新喂食后2 - 12小时），物种丰富度和香农多样性（α多样性）显著降低（P < 0.01）。在重新喂食后期（重新喂食后18 - 24小时），物种丰富度和多样性开始恢复。与喂食马相比（β多样性），禁食马具有独特的细菌群落。主要在禁食后期和重新喂食早期，拟杆菌门BS11和厚壁菌门克里斯滕森菌科、克里斯滕森菌属和脱卤杆菌科在禁食马中显著增加。在禁食后期、重新喂食早期和重新喂食后期，拟杆菌门海栖菌科和普雷沃氏菌科、厚壁菌门韦荣球菌科、厌氧弧菌属和布氏菌属以及变形菌门GMD14H09在禁食马中显著减少（P < 0.01）。不同组之间共生肠道微生物群的变化不显著。
禁食对粪便细菌微生物群的多样性和组成有显著影响，尤其是在禁食至少10小时后，在解释马粪便细菌微生物群的数据时应予以考虑。
