Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Differences in gut bacteria and fecal metabolites in dogs
By Chen, Chih-Chun et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2025·School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Microbial Gene Profiling and Targeted Metabolomics in Fecal Samples of Dogs With Chronic Enteropathy With or Without Increased Dysbiosis Index.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with chronic enteropathy (CE), which can cause digestive issues, were studied to see how their gut bacteria and metabolites differed from healthy dogs. The researchers found that dogs with a higher dysbiosis index (a measure of gut health) had significant changes in their gut bacteria and lower levels of certain beneficial substances in their feces compared to healthy dogs and those with normal dysbiosis. This suggests that dogs with a higher dysbiosis index may have more severe intestinal problems. Understanding these differences could help veterinarians tailor treatments for dogs with chronic digestive issues.
People also search for: dog chronic diarrhea treatment · dog gut health dysbiosis · dog fecal analysis results
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In previous studies, only a subset of dogs with chronic enteropathy (CE) had an increased dysbiosis index (DI) or altered fecal metabolites or both, suggesting differences in underlying intestinal pathophysiology between these subsets. OBJECTIVES: To compare microbial functional genes and fecal metabolites between healthy dogs with DI < 0 (HC) and dogs with CE and DI > 0 (increased DI-CE) or DI < 0 (normal DI-CE). ANIMALS: Retrospective cross-sectional study including 78 HC and 138 CE dogs. METHODS: Fecal microbiome was assessed by DNA shotgun sequencing. Dysbiosis index was quantified by qPCR. Targeted fecal metabolites, long-chain fatty acids, sterols, bile acids (BAs), and carbohydrates were measured using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). RESULTS: In permutational analysis of variance (PERMANOVA), functional gene profiles showed larger shifts in increased DI-CE (median R[95% confidence interval (CI)] = 0.12 [0.08-0.17]) than normal DI-CE (0.02 [0.01-0.04]) compared with HC (adjusted-p < 0.02), characterized by increased counts of carbohydrate and lipid degradation genes. Similarly, increased DI-CE (PERMANOVA, median R[95% CI] = 0.23 [0.14-0.34]) had larger shifts in fecal metabolome than normal DI-CE (0.10 [0.04-0.20]; adjusted-p < 0.02). Increased DI-CE had lower fecal unconjugated secondary BAs percentage (95% CI; HC, 88.4%-96.4%; normal DI-CE, 79.8%-99.0%; increased DI-CE, 28.1%-64.1%) and transporter-independent carbohydrates (combined ribose, xylose, rhamnose, and arabinose) concentrations (1.6-2.6; 0.7-1.8; 0.3-1.3 ng/mg; adjusted-p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate differences in fecal microbial gene profiles and metabolome in increased DI-CE versus normal DI-CE and HC, suggesting dogs with an increased DI have more severe intestinal changes in metabolic functions.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40810386/