Microbiome and Blood Analyte Differences Point to Community and Metabolic Signatures in Lean and Obese Horses.

ABSTRACT: Due to modern management practices and the availability of energy dense feeds, obesity is a serious and increasingly common health problem for horses. Equine obesity is linked to insulin resistance and exacerbation of inflammatory issues such as osteoarthritis and laminitis. While the gut microbiome is thought to play a part in metabolic status in horses, bacterial communities associated with obesity have yet to be described. Here we report differences in metabolic factors in the blood of obese, normal and lean horses correlated with differences in gut microbiome composition. We report that obese horses had higher levels of leptin, triglycerides, glucose, and cortisol in their blood, and more diverse gut microbiome communities with higher relative abundance of Firmicutes, and lower numbers

SUBMITTER: Biddle AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6158370 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature