Clinicopathologic and gastrointestinal effects of administration of prednisone, prednisone with omeprazole, or prednisone with probiotics to dogs: A double-blind randomized trial.

Abstract

The efffect of administering of probiotics or twice-daily omeprazole on glucocorticoid-induced gastric bleeding in dogs is unknown. Compare gastrointestinal bleeding among dogs administered placebo, prednisone (2mg/kg q24h), prednisone with omeprazole (1mg/kg q12h), or prednisone with probiotics (Visbiome, 11.2-22.5 billion CFU/kg q24h) for 28 days. Twenty-four healthy research dogs. Double-blinded, placebo-controlled randomized trial. Clinical signs and endoscopic gastrointestinal mucosal lesion scores at baseline (t1 ), day 14 (t2 ), and day 28 (t3 ) were compared using split-plot repeated-measures mixed-model ANOVAs. Fecal score differed by treatment-by-time (F[6,40] = 2.65, P < .03), with higher scores in groups receiving prednisone at t3 than t1 . Nineteen of thirty-three episodes of diarrhea occurred in the prednisone with omeprazole group. Gastric mucosal lesion scores differed by treatment-by-time (F[6,60] = 2.86, P=.05), among treatment groups (F[3,60] = 4.9, P=.004), and over time (F[2,60] = 16.5, P < .001). Post hoc analysis revealed lesion scores increased over time for all groups receiving prednisone. At t3 , scores for the prednisone (8.7 ± 4.9) and prednisone with probiotics (8.7 ± 4.9) groups differed significantly from placebo (1.8 ± 1.8; P ≤ .04), whereas scores for the prednisone with omeprazole (6.5 ± 5.5) group did not differ from placebo (P=.7). Ulcers occurred only in dogs receiving prednisone. Prednisone-induced gastric bleeding. Co-administration of omeprazole partially mitigated bleeding, but a similar protective benefit was not demonstrated by co-administration of the evaluated probiotic.