Abstract
ABSTRACTObesity has become a health epidemic in both humans and pets. A dysbiotic gut microbiota has been associated with obesity and other metabolic disorders. High-protein, low-carbohydrate (HPLC) diets have been recommended for body weight loss, but little is known about their effects on the canine gut microbiome. Sixty-three obese and lean Labrador retrievers and Beagles (mean age, 5.72 years) were fed a common baseline diet for 4 weeks in phase 1, followed by 4 weeks of a treatment diet, specifically, the HPLC diet (49.4% protein, 10.9% carbohydrate) or a low-protein, high-carbohydrate (LPHC) diet (25.5% protein, 38.8% carbohydrate) in phase 2. 16S rRNA gene profiling revealed that dietary protein and carbohydrate ratios have significant impacts on gut microbial compositions. This effect appeared to be more evident in obese dogs than in lean dogs but was independent of breed. Consumption of either diet increased the bacterial evenness, but not the richness, of the gut compared to that after consumption of the baseline diet. Macronutrient composition affected taxon abundances, mainly within the predominant phyla, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. The LPHC diet appeared to favor the growth of Bacteroides uniformis and Clostridium butyricum, while the HPLC diet increased the abundances of Clostridium hiranonis, Clostridium perfringens, and Ruminococcus gnavus and enriched microbial gene networks associated with weight maintenance. In addition, we observed a decrease in the Bacteroidetes to Firmicutes ratio and an increase in the Bacteroides to Prevotella ratio in the HPLC diet-fed dogs compared to these ratios in dogs fed other diets. Finally, analysis of the effect of diet on the predicted microbial gene network was performed using phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states (PICRUSt).
Highlights
IMPORTANCE More than 50% of dogs are either overweight or obese in the United States
Our study indicated that an HPLC diet significantly reduces weight gain in lean dogs without reducing the caloric intake, though the influences of the dietary protein-to-carbohydrate ratio on the gut microbiome in dogs remain unclear
HPLC diets have been promoted as an effective body weight management strategy for many years, and potential benefits were reported in both humans and animals [20,21,22,23]
Summary
IMPORTANCE More than 50% of dogs are either overweight or obese in the United States. Ders, and liver and brain diseases [3,4,5,6] In both humans and mice, changes in the abundances of predominant gut microbes have been linked to excess body fat, with more Firmicutes and fewer Bacteroidetes in obese individuals than in lean ones [7,8,9]. Shifts of gut microbial composition that favor increased Firmicutes abundance was thought to cause an increased efficiency in energy extraction from the diet, resulting in higher levels of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that are suspected of altering the metabolism of obese individuals [8, 11, 12] Both genetic and environmental factors have significant impacts on the structure and composition of the gut microbiota, with diet being one of the greatest influences that can rapidly alter the gut microbiome [13,14,15]. This knowledge will enable us to modulate gut microbiomes using prebiotics, probiotics, or other nutritionalintervention approaches and to provide an alternative therapy for canine obesity or other metabolic disorders in the near future
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