Randomized placebo-controlled trial of feline-origin Enterococcus hirae probiotic effects on preventative health and fecal microbiota composition of fostered shelter kittens
IntroductionDiarrhea is the second most common cause of mortality in shelter kittens. Studies examining prevention strategies in this population are lacking. Probiotics are of particular interest but studies in cats are largely limited to healthy adults or those with induced disease. Only one study...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.923792/full |
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| author | Jody L. Gookin Sandra J. Strong Sandra J. Strong José M. Bruno-Bárcena Stephen H. Stauffer Shelby Williams Shelby Williams Erica Wassack Erica Wassack M. Andrea Azcarate-Peril Marko Estrada Alexis Seguin Joerg Balzer Gigi Davidson |
| author_facet | Jody L. Gookin Sandra J. Strong Sandra J. Strong José M. Bruno-Bárcena Stephen H. Stauffer Shelby Williams Shelby Williams Erica Wassack Erica Wassack M. Andrea Azcarate-Peril Marko Estrada Alexis Seguin Joerg Balzer Gigi Davidson |
| author_sort | Jody L. Gookin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionDiarrhea is the second most common cause of mortality in shelter kittens. Studies examining prevention strategies in this population are lacking. Probiotics are of particular interest but studies in cats are largely limited to healthy adults or those with induced disease. Only one study in domestic cats describes the use of host-derived bacteria as a probiotic. We previously identified Enterococcus hirae as a dominant species colonizing the small intestinal mucosa in healthy shelter kittens. Oral administration of a probiotic formulation of kitten-origin E. hirae (strain 1002-2) mitigated the increase in intestinal permeability and fecal water loss resulting from experimental enteropathogenic E. coli infection in purpose-bred kittens. Based on these findings, we hypothesized that administration of kitten-origin E. hirae to weaned fostered shelter kittens could provide a measurable preventative health benefit.MethodsWe conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded clinical trial to determine the impact of a freeze-dried E. hirae probiotic on body weight gain, incidence of diarrhea, carriage of potential diarrheal pathogens, and composition of the intestinal microbiota in weaned fostered shelter kittens.ResultsOne-hundred thirty kittens completed the study. Fifty-eight kittens received the probiotic and 72 received the placebo. There were no significant differences in age, weight upon initiation of the study, number of days in the study, average daily gain in body weight, or weight at completion of the study. Kittens treated with E. hirae were 3.4 times less likely to develop diarrhea compared to kittens treated with placebo (odds ratio = 0.294, 95% CI 0.109–0.792, p = 0.022). A significant impact of E. hirae was not observed on the presence or abundance of 30 different bacterial, viral, protozoal, fungal, algal, and parasitic agents in feces examined by qPCR. With exception to a decrease in Megamonas, administration of the E. hirae probiotic did not alter the predominant bacterial phyla present in feces based on 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing.DiscussionDecreased incidence of diarrhea associated with preventative administration of E. hirae to foster kittens supports a rationale for use of E. hirae for disease prevention in this young population at high risk for intestinal disease though additional studies are warranted. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T12:23:44Z |
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| id | doaj.art-d14e6e0fce82473eb7dfcfb1ab2be7aa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-1769 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T12:23:44Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-d14e6e0fce82473eb7dfcfb1ab2be7aa2022-12-22T02:47:06ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Veterinary Science2297-17692022-11-01910.3389/fvets.2022.923792923792Randomized placebo-controlled trial of feline-origin Enterococcus hirae probiotic effects on preventative health and fecal microbiota composition of fostered shelter kittensJody L. Gookin0Sandra J. Strong1Sandra J. Strong2José M. Bruno-Bárcena3Stephen H. Stauffer4Shelby Williams5Shelby Williams6Erica Wassack7Erica Wassack8M. Andrea Azcarate-Peril9Marko Estrada10Alexis Seguin11Joerg Balzer12Gigi Davidson13Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Comparative Medicine Institute, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, United StatesDepartment of Environmental Services, Wake County Animal Center, Raleigh, NC, United StatesOrange County Animal Services, Chapel Hill, NC, United StatesDepartment of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, United StatesDepartment of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Comparative Medicine Institute, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, United StatesVeterinary Hospital Pharmacy, College of Veterinary Medicine and Comparative Medicine Institute, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, United StatesUniversity of Wisconsin Veterinary Care, Madison, WI, United StatesVeterinary Hospital Pharmacy, College of Veterinary Medicine and Comparative Medicine Institute, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, United StatesDepartment of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, United StatesDivision of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and UNC Microbiome Core, Department of Medicine, Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United StatesIDEXX Laboratories, Inc., West Sacramento, CA, United StatesIDEXX Laboratories, Inc., West Sacramento, CA, United States0Vet Med Labor GmbH Division, IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., Kornwestheim, GermanyVeterinary Hospital Pharmacy, College of Veterinary Medicine and Comparative Medicine Institute, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, United StatesIntroductionDiarrhea is the second most common cause of mortality in shelter kittens. Studies examining prevention strategies in this population are lacking. Probiotics are of particular interest but studies in cats are largely limited to healthy adults or those with induced disease. Only one study in domestic cats describes the use of host-derived bacteria as a probiotic. We previously identified Enterococcus hirae as a dominant species colonizing the small intestinal mucosa in healthy shelter kittens. Oral administration of a probiotic formulation of kitten-origin E. hirae (strain 1002-2) mitigated the increase in intestinal permeability and fecal water loss resulting from experimental enteropathogenic E. coli infection in purpose-bred kittens. Based on these findings, we hypothesized that administration of kitten-origin E. hirae to weaned fostered shelter kittens could provide a measurable preventative health benefit.MethodsWe conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded clinical trial to determine the impact of a freeze-dried E. hirae probiotic on body weight gain, incidence of diarrhea, carriage of potential diarrheal pathogens, and composition of the intestinal microbiota in weaned fostered shelter kittens.ResultsOne-hundred thirty kittens completed the study. Fifty-eight kittens received the probiotic and 72 received the placebo. There were no significant differences in age, weight upon initiation of the study, number of days in the study, average daily gain in body weight, or weight at completion of the study. Kittens treated with E. hirae were 3.4 times less likely to develop diarrhea compared to kittens treated with placebo (odds ratio = 0.294, 95% CI 0.109–0.792, p = 0.022). A significant impact of E. hirae was not observed on the presence or abundance of 30 different bacterial, viral, protozoal, fungal, algal, and parasitic agents in feces examined by qPCR. With exception to a decrease in Megamonas, administration of the E. hirae probiotic did not alter the predominant bacterial phyla present in feces based on 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing.DiscussionDecreased incidence of diarrhea associated with preventative administration of E. hirae to foster kittens supports a rationale for use of E. hirae for disease prevention in this young population at high risk for intestinal disease though additional studies are warranted.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.923792/full16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencingdiarrheal pathogensgrowth and survivalinfectionpolymerase chain reactionshelter medicine |
| spellingShingle | Jody L. Gookin Sandra J. Strong Sandra J. Strong José M. Bruno-Bárcena Stephen H. Stauffer Shelby Williams Shelby Williams Erica Wassack Erica Wassack M. Andrea Azcarate-Peril Marko Estrada Alexis Seguin Joerg Balzer Gigi Davidson Randomized placebo-controlled trial of feline-origin Enterococcus hirae probiotic effects on preventative health and fecal microbiota composition of fostered shelter kittens Frontiers in Veterinary Science 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing diarrheal pathogens growth and survival infection polymerase chain reaction shelter medicine |
| title | Randomized placebo-controlled trial of feline-origin Enterococcus hirae probiotic effects on preventative health and fecal microbiota composition of fostered shelter kittens |
| title_full | Randomized placebo-controlled trial of feline-origin Enterococcus hirae probiotic effects on preventative health and fecal microbiota composition of fostered shelter kittens |
| title_fullStr | Randomized placebo-controlled trial of feline-origin Enterococcus hirae probiotic effects on preventative health and fecal microbiota composition of fostered shelter kittens |
| title_full_unstemmed | Randomized placebo-controlled trial of feline-origin Enterococcus hirae probiotic effects on preventative health and fecal microbiota composition of fostered shelter kittens |
| title_short | Randomized placebo-controlled trial of feline-origin Enterococcus hirae probiotic effects on preventative health and fecal microbiota composition of fostered shelter kittens |
| title_sort | randomized placebo controlled trial of feline origin enterococcus hirae probiotic effects on preventative health and fecal microbiota composition of fostered shelter kittens |
| topic | 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing diarrheal pathogens growth and survival infection polymerase chain reaction shelter medicine |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.923792/full |
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