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The longitudinal effect of a multi‐strain probiotic on the intestinal bacterial microbiota of neonatal foals
Author(s) -
Schoster A.,
Guardabassi L.,
Staempfli H. R.,
Abrahams M.,
Jalali M.,
Weese J. S.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
equine veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.82
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 2042-3306
pISSN - 0425-1644
DOI - 10.1111/evj.12524
Subject(s) - probiotic , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , bacterial strain , strain (injury) , bacteria , genetics , anatomy
Summary Reasons for performing the study The microbiota plays a key role in health and disease. Probiotics are a potential way to therapeutically modify the intestinal microbiota and prevent disease. Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of probiotics on the bacterial microbiota of foals during and after administration. Study design Randomised placebo controlled field trial. Methods Thirty‐eight healthy neonatal foals enrolled in a previous study were selected. The foals had received a multi‐strain probiotic (four Lactobacillus spp. 3–4 × 10 3 colony‐forming units (cfu)/g each, Bifidobacterium animalis spp. lactis , 1 × 10 3–4 cfu/g) or placebo once daily for 3 weeks. A total of 3 faecal samples were collected from each foal at 2‐week intervals and assessed via metagenomic sequencing. The Wilcoxon test was used to compare data between treatment groups. Results There were no changes on the phylum, order or class level between treatment groups at any age (all P>0.05) but some significant changes in relative abundance of families. Probiotic administration did not result in an increased relative abundance of lactobacilli or bifidobacteria at any age ( Lactobacillus : P = 0.9, P = 0.1 and P = 0.2, Bifidobacterium : P = 0.3, P = 0.6 and P = 0.1 for Weeks 2, 4 and 6, respectively). Lactobacillus was enriched in the probiotic group at Week 6 on LE fSe analysis (linear discriminant analysis score 0.34, P = 0 .02). There was no effect on alpha diversity (all P>0.2) or community structure when parsimony and unifrac analysis were applied (all P>0.6). Conclusions There were limited effects of probiotic treatment on the bacterial microbiota of foals. The studied probiotic based on lactobacilli and bifidobacteria has a limited potential for therapeutic modification of the gastrointestinal microbiota.