Project description:Introduction: The fecal microbiome is relevant to the health and disease of many species. The importance of the fecal metabolome has more recently been appreciated, but our knowledge of the microbiome and metabolome at other sites along the gastrointestinal tract remains deficient. Objective: To analyze the gastrointestinal microbiome and metabolome of healthy domestic dogs at four anatomical sites. Methods: Samples of the duodenal, ileal, colonic, and rectal contents were collected from six adult dogs after humane euthanasia for an unrelated study. The microbiota were characterized using Illumina sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. The metabolome was characterized by mass spectrometry-based methods. Results: Prevalent phyla throughout the samples were Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Fusobacteria, and Bacteroidetes, consistent with previous findings in dogs and other species. A total of 530 unique metabolites were detected; 199 of these were identified as previously named compounds, but 141 of them had at least one significantly different site-pair comparison. Noteworthy examples include amino acids, which decreased from the small to large intestine; pyruvate, which was at peak concentrations in the ileum; and several phenol-containing carboxylic acid compounds that increased in the large intestine. Conclusion: The microbiome and metabolome vary significantly at different sites along the canine gastrointestinal tract.
Project description:Reflux and aspiration in people cause and exacerbate respiratory diseases in the absence of gastrointestinal (GI) signs. Protein biomarkers in humans detect extra-esophageal reflux (EER) from oropharyngeal (OP) and bronchoalveloar lavage samples. Reflux likely contributes to respiratory disease in dogs. The objectives of this study were to analyze the canine gastric fluid (GF) proteome and compare this to the OP proteome in normal, vomiting/regurgitating and coughing dogs to identify biomarkers for EER/aspiration. Twenty-three client-owned dogs were enrolled. Canine GF samples (n=5) and OP swabs in normal (n=6), vomiting/regurgitating (n=7), and coughing (n=5) dogs were within 2 weeks of sample collection. Protein digests were analyzed by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS). Differential abundance (DA) of proteins between groups was evaluated by Fisher Exact test with p< 0.0004 significance level after correction for multiple comparisons. DA was found between all groups (P <0.0001): GF versus normal (n=130 proteins), cough versus normal (n=22 proteins), vomiting/regurgitating versus normal (n=20 proteins). Protein abundance was highly variable between dogs. Gastrointestinal-specific proteins were found in OP swabs from vomiting/regurgitating and coughing dogs but not healthy dogs. In conclusion, the proteomic composition of the OP varies between health and disease. Presence of gastrointestinal-specific proteins in OP of coughing dogs may suggest reflux and/or aspiration as contributing factors. Variable protein abundance warrants investigation into biomarker panels.
Project description:Skeletal muscle, as a large and insulin sensitive tissue, is an important contributor to metabolic homeostasis and energy expenditure. Obese dogs exhibit skeletal muscle insulin resistance, but the causes of these changes are unclear. Thus, we used canine microarrays to analyze gene expression profiles of skeletal muscle tissue collected from obese dogs, after 24 wk of ad libitum feeding.
Project description:Exposure to dogs in early infancy has been shown to reduce the risk of childhood allergic disease development and dog-ownership is associated with a distinct house dust microbial exposure. Here we demonstrate, using murine models, that exposure of mice toM-BM- dog-associated house dust protects against ovalbumin or cockroach allergen mediated airway pathology. Protected animals exhibited significant reductions in the total number of airway T cells, down-regulation of Th2-related airway responses as well as mucin secretion. Following house dust exposure, the cecal microbiome of protected animals was extensively restructured with significant enrichment of, amongst others, Lactobacillus johnsonii. Supplementation of wild type animals with L. johnsonii protected them against both airway allergen challenge or infection with respiratory syncytial virus. L. johnsonii mediated protection wasM-BM- associated with significant reductions in the total number and proportion of activated CD11c+/CD11b+ and CD11c+/CD8+ cells, as well as significantly reduced airway Th2 cytokine expression. Our results reveal that exposure to dog-associated household dust results in protection against airway allergen challenge and a distinct GI microbiome composition. Moreover the study identifies L. johnsonii as a pivotal species within the gastrointestinal tract capable of influencing adaptive immunity at remote mucosal surfaces in a manner that is protective against a variety of respiratory insults. The G2 PhyloChip microarray platform (commercially available from Second Genome, Inc.) was used to profile cecal gut bacteria from 29 mice: 7 controls, 5 gavaged with dust from homes with pets, 5 gavaged with dust from homes with no pets, 4 CRA-challenged, 4 gavaged with L. johnsonii, and 4 gavaged with L. johnsonii prior to CRA challenge. The PhyloChip was also used to profile 1 house dust sample collected from a home with dogs
Project description:Exposure to dogs in early infancy has been shown to reduce the risk of childhood allergic disease development and dog-ownership is associated with a distinct house dust microbial exposure. Here we demonstrate, using murine models, that exposure of mice toM-BM- dog-associated house dust protects against ovalbumin or cockroach allergen mediated airway pathology. Protected animals exhibited significant reductions in the total number of airway T cells, down-regulation of Th2-related airway responses as well as mucin secretion. Following house dust exposure, the cecal microbiome of protected animals was extensively restructured with significant enrichment of, amongst others, Lactobacillus johnsonii. Supplementation of wild type animals with L. johnsonii protected them against both airway allergen challenge or infection with respiratory syncytial virus. L. johnsonii mediated protection wasM-BM- associated with significant reductions in the total number and proportion of activated CD11c+/CD11b+ and CD11c+/CD8+ cells, as well as significantly reduced airway Th2 cytokine expression. Our results reveal that exposure to dog-associated household dust results in protection against airway allergen challenge and a distinct GI microbiome composition. Moreover the study identifies L. johnsonii as a pivotal species within the gastrointestinal tract capable of influencing adaptive immunity at remote mucosal surfaces in a manner that is protective against a variety of respiratory insults. The G2 PhyloChip microarray platform (commercially available from Second Genome, Inc.) was used to profile cecal gut bacteria from 29 mice: 7 controls, 5 gavaged with dust from homes with pets, 5 gavaged with dust from homes with no pets, 4 CRA-challenged, 4 gavaged with L. johnsonii, and 4 gavaged with L. johnsonii prior to CRA challenge. The PhyloChip was also used to profile 1 house dust sample collected from a home with dogs
Project description:Exposure to dogs in early infancy has been shown to reduce the risk of childhood allergic disease development and dog-ownership is associated with a distinct house dust microbial exposure. Here we demonstrate, using murine models, that exposure of mice toM-BM- dog-associated house dust protects against ovalbumin or cockroach allergen mediated airway pathology. Protected animals exhibited significant reductions in the total number of airway T cells, down-regulation of Th2-related airway responses as well as mucin secretion. Following house dust exposure, the cecal microbiome of protected animals was extensively restructured with significant enrichment of, amongst others, Lactobacillus johnsonii. Supplementation of wild type animals with L. johnsonii protected them against both airway allergen challenge or infection with respiratory syncytial virus. L. johnsonii mediated protection wasM-BM- associated with significant reductions in the total number and proportion of activated CD11c+/CD11b+ and CD11c+/CD8+ cells, as well as significantly reduced airway Th2 cytokine expression. Our results reveal that exposure to dog-associated household dust results in protection against airway allergen challenge and a distinct GI microbiome composition. Moreover the study identifies L. johnsonii as a pivotal species within the gastrointestinal tract capable of influencing adaptive immunity at remote mucosal surfaces in a manner that is protective against a variety of respiratory insults. The G2 PhyloChip microarray platform (commercially available from Second Genome, Inc.) was used to profile cecal gut bacteria from 29 mice: 7 controls, 5 gavaged with dust from homes with pets, 5 gavaged with dust from homes with no pets, 4 CRA-challenged, 4 gavaged with L. johnsonii, and 4 gavaged with L. johnsonii prior to CRA challenge. The PhyloChip was also used to profile 1 house dust sample collected from a home with dogs
Project description:Skeletal muscle, as a large and insulin sensitive tissue, is an important contributor to metabolic homeostasis and energy expenditure. Obese dogs exhibit skeletal muscle insulin resistance, but the causes of these changes are unclear. Thus, we used canine microarrays to analyze gene expression profiles of skeletal muscle tissue collected from obese dogs, after 24 wk of ad libitum feeding. Skeletal muscle tissue samples were collected from 9 intact female beagles (4 yr-old; 4 control; 5 ad libitum) after 24 wk of ad libitum feeding.