Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Changes in poop bacteria and chemicals in dogs with epilepsy
By Verdoodt, Fien et al.·Published in Scientific reports·2025·Department of Morphology·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: The fecal metabolome and microbiome are altered in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy compared to healthy dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with idiopathic epilepsy (IE), a common neurological condition, showed differences in their gut bacteria and metabolites compared to healthy dogs. Dogs with drug-resistant epilepsy had higher levels of histamine and certain bacteria linked to inflammation, while those with a milder form of epilepsy had increased serotonin and beneficial bacteria. These findings suggest that the gut-brain connection might play a role in managing epilepsy in dogs. Understanding these differences could help in developing better treatments for dogs suffering from this condition.
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Abstract
Idiopathic epilepsy (IE) is the most common chronic neurological disease in dogs, and a natural animal model for human epilepsy types with genetic and unknown etiology. The microbiota-gut-brain axis (MGBA) is a promising target for improving brain health in individuals where brain function is hampered. It's role in the pathophysiology of epilepsy remains however unclear. We aimed to identify differences in fecal metabolome and microbiome between healthy and dogs with IE. To this purpose, fecal samples of healthy (n = 39) and dogs with IE (n = 49) were metabolically profiled (n = 148 metabolites) and fingerprinted (n = 3690 features) using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, and the bacterial phylogeny examined using 16 S rRNA sequencing. Dogs with IE were categorized as drug-resistant (DR) (n = 27) or mild phenotype (MP) (n = 22). In dogs with DR IE compared to healthy, fecal metabolites such as histamine (P = 0.022) and microbiome genera such as Escherichia-Shigella (P = 0.021) increased, associated with a proinflammatory environment. In dogs with MP IE compared to healthy, alterations associated with anti-inflammatory properties, such as increased fecal serotonin (P = 0.034) and Blautia hominis (P = 0.012) were revealed. Overall, a role for the MGBA communication in canine IE was established.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40707505/