Waltham Petcare Science Institute, Freeby Lane, Waltham On the Wolds, Leicestershire, LE14 4RT, UK.
Sci Rep. 2024 Aug 14;14(1):18897. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-66652-3.
There is growing evidence that a relationship exists between mental and emotional wellbeing and the gut microbiota. Little is known regarding how the microbiota reacts to repeated acute stress events in dogs, and whether it is a predictor of stress response. In this study, we explored the impact on the gut microbiota and digestive health with two common events many pet dogs find stressful. Twenty healthy adult dogs, living within a colony, were exposed to either car travel or separation three times across eight-week intervals. Faecal samples were collected 24 h before, within 24 h, and 24-48 h after. Faecal quality and pH, and microbiota diversity and composition were analysed in context with wider published work on physiological stress measures. No significant changes were observed in faecal quality or pH with either stress event at any timepoint, indicating all pets remained in good digestive health. Microbiota analysis demonstrated no significant impact on alpha or beta diversity with either stressor. Microbial signatures previously linked to stress were not identified in these dogs and no changes were observed in the functional gut composition. Irrespective of whether the pet was considered "stressed" (i.e., exhibited an increase in serum cortisol), there was no effect on the microbiota and no taxa were predictive of stress response. Collectively, this work demonstrates, for this population, certain acute stress events have no meaningful impact on the canine gut microbiota, and it has no impact on the associated stress response.
越来越多的证据表明，心理和情绪健康与肠道微生物群之间存在关系。目前还不清楚微生物群对狗反复发生的急性应激事件有何反应，也不清楚它是否是应激反应的预测因子。在这项研究中，我们探讨了两种常见的宠物狗感到压力的事件对肠道微生物群和消化健康的影响。20 只健康的成年犬生活在一个群体中，它们在 8 周的间隔内分别经历了汽车旅行或分离三次。在暴露前 24 小时、暴露后 24 小时和 24-48 小时收集粪便样本。根据广泛发表的生理应激测量研究，分析粪便质量和 pH 值以及微生物多样性和组成。在任何时间点，两种应激事件都没有观察到粪便质量或 pH 值的显著变化，这表明所有宠物的消化健康状况良好。微生物分析表明，两种应激源都没有对 alpha 或 beta 多样性产生显著影响。在这些狗中没有发现与应激相关的微生物特征，也没有观察到功能性肠道组成的变化。无论宠物是否被认为“有压力”（即血清皮质醇增加），对微生物群都没有影响，也没有任何分类群可以预测应激反应。总的来说，这项工作表明，对于这一人群，某些急性应激事件对犬肠道微生物群没有明显影响，也不会影响相关的应激反应。
