College of Veterinary Medicine and Research Institute for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
Korea Ginseng Corporation, Daejeon, South Korea.
Microbiol Spectr. 2023 Aug 17;11(4):e0094923. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.00949-23. Epub 2023 Jun 27.
Red ginseng, widely used in traditional medicine for various conditions, imparts health benefits mainly by modulating the gut microbiota in humans. Given the similarities in gut microbiota between humans and dogs, red ginseng-derived dietary fiber may have prebiotic potential in dogs; however, its effects on the gut microbiota in dogs remain elusive. This double-blinded, longitudinal study investigated the impact of red ginseng dietary fiber on the gut microbiota and host response in dogs. A total of 40 healthy household dogs were randomly assigned to low-dose ( = 12), high-dose ( = 16), or control ( = 12) groups and fed a normal diet supplemented with red ginseng dietary fiber (3 g/5 kg body weight per day, 8 g/5 kg per day, or no supplement, respectively) for 8 weeks. The gut microbiota of the dogs was analyzed at 4 weeks and 8 weeks using 16S rRNA gene sequencing of fecal samples. Alpha diversity was significantly increased at 8 and 4 weeks in the low-dose and high-dose groups, respectively. Moreover, biomarker analysis showed that short-chain fatty acid producers such as and were significantly enriched, while potential pathogens such as were significantly decreased, indicating the increased gut health and pathogen resistance by red ginseng dietary fiber. Microbial network analysis showed that the complexity of microbial interactions was increased by both doses, indicating the increased stability of the gut microbiota. These findings suggest that red ginseng-derived dietary fiber could be used as a prebiotic to modulate gut microbiota and improve gut health in dogs. The canine gut microbiota is an attractive model for translational studies, as it responds to dietary interventions similarly to those in humans. Investigating the gut microbiota of household dogs that share the environment with humans can produce highly generalizable and reproducible results owing to their representativeness of the general canine population. This double-blind and longitudinal study investigated the impact of dietary fiber derived from red ginseng on the gut microbiota of household dogs. Red ginseng dietary fiber altered the canine gut microbiota by increasing diversity, enriching short-chain fatty acid-producing microbes, decreasing potential pathogens, and increasing the complexity of microbial interactions. These findings indicate that red ginseng-derived dietary fiber may promote canine gut health by modulating gut microbiota, suggesting the possibility of its use as a potential prebiotic.
红参广泛应用于传统医学，用于治疗各种病症，其健康益处主要通过调节人体肠道微生物群来实现。鉴于人类和狗的肠道微生物群存在相似性，红参膳食纤维可能对狗具有益生元潜力；然而，其对狗肠道微生物群的影响仍不清楚。本项双盲、纵向研究调查了红参膳食纤维对狗肠道微生物群和宿主反应的影响。总共 40 只健康的家庭犬被随机分配到低剂量（n=12）、高剂量（n=16）或对照组（n=12），并在正常饮食中补充红参膳食纤维（3 克/5 公斤体重/天，8 克/5 公斤体重/天或不补充），持续 8 周。使用粪便样本的 16S rRNA 基因测序，在第 4 周和第 8 周分析狗的肠道微生物群。低剂量和高剂量组的 alpha 多样性分别在第 8 周和第 4 周显著增加。此外，生物标志物分析表明，短链脂肪酸产生菌如 和 显著富集，而潜在病原体如 显著减少，表明红参膳食纤维增加了肠道健康和病原体抵抗力。微生物网络分析表明，两种剂量都增加了微生物相互作用的复杂性，表明肠道微生物群的稳定性增加。这些发现表明，红参衍生的膳食纤维可用作益生元来调节狗的肠道微生物群并改善肠道健康。狗的肠道微生物群是转化研究的一个有吸引力的模型，因为它对饮食干预的反应与人类相似。研究与人类生活在相同环境中的家庭犬的肠道微生物群可以产生高度可推广和可重复的结果，因为它们代表了一般犬类群体。本项双盲和纵向研究调查了红参膳食纤维对家庭犬肠道微生物群的影响。红参膳食纤维通过增加多样性、富集产生短链脂肪酸的微生物、减少潜在病原体和增加微生物相互作用的复杂性来改变犬的肠道微生物群。这些发现表明，红参衍生的膳食纤维通过调节肠道微生物群可能促进犬的肠道健康，提示其作为潜在益生元的可能性。
