Abstract
BackgroundLiterature about the lung microbiota (LM) in dogs is sparse. Influence of breed and living conditions on the LM in healthy dogs is currently unknown, as well as the influence of chronic respiratory diseases such as canine idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (CIPF) in West highland white terriers (WHWTs). Aims of this study were (1) to assess the characteristics of the healthy LM according to breed and living conditions, and (2) to study LM changes associated with CIPF in WHWTs. Forty-five healthy dogs divided into 5 groups: domestic terriers (n = 10), domestic shepherds (n = 11), domestic brachycephalic dogs (n = 9), domestic WHWTs (n = 6) (H-WHWTs) and experimental beagles (n = 9) and 11 diseased WHWTs affected with CIPF (D-WHWTs) were included in the study to achieve those objectives.ResultsIn healthy domestic dogs, except in H-WHWTs, the presence of few discriminant genera in each type of breed was the only LM modification. LM of experimental dogs displayed a change in b-diversity and an increased richness compared with domestic dogs. Moreover, Prevotella_7 and Dubosiella genera were more abundant and 19 genera were discriminant in experimental dogs. LM of both H-WHWTs and D-WHWTs revealed increased abundance of 6 genera (Brochothrix, Curvibacter, Pseudarcicella, Flavobacteriaceae genus, Rhodoluna and Limnohabitans) compared with other healthy domestic dogs. Brochothrix and Pseudarcicella were also discriminant in D-WHWTs compared with H-WHWTs and other healthy domestic dogs.ConclusionsIn domestic conditions, except for H-WHWT, the breed appears to have minor influence on the LM. LM modifications were found in experimental compared with domestic living conditions. LM modifications in H-WHWTs and D-WHWTs compared with other healthy domestic dogs were similar and seemed to be linked to the breed. Whether this breed difference might be related with the high susceptibility of WHWTs for CIPF requires further studies.
Highlights
Literature about the lung microbiota (LM) in dogs is sparse
Influence of the breed on the LM A total of 45 healthy adult dogs were included in the study and categorized into 5 groups according to the type of breed: terriers (T), shepherds (S), brachycephalic dogs (Br), West Highland white terrier (WHWT) (H-WHWTs) and beagles (ExpB)
Results of the present study revealed that in healthy dogs, except for Healthy West Highland white terrier (H-WHWT) and experimental beagles (ExpB), the impact of the type of breed only seemed to concern the presence of few discriminant genera in each group
Summary
Influence of breed and living conditions on the LM in healthy dogs is currently unknown, as well as the influence of chronic respiratory diseases such as canine idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (CIPF) in West highland white terriers (WHWTs). In a pilot study from Roels et al (2017), based on a limited number of dogs, LM differences were found between healthy experimental beagles (n = 6) and healthy client-owned West Highland white terriers (WHWTs) (n = 5) suggesting a possible association with the breed and/or the living conditions. Differences in the LM were highlighted between healthy client-owned WHWTs and WHWTs affected with canine idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (CIPF) (n = 7) suggesting an influence of the disease on the LM. We hypothesize that inter-breed differences in genetic, morphological or physiological characteristics, or in breathing pattern could alter the LM which might be among the factors that favor lower airway diseases with breed predisposition
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