Abstract
Compromised gut health and dysbiosis in people with heart failure has received a great deal of attention over the last decade. Whether dogs with heart failure have a similar dysbiosis pattern to what is described in people is currently unknown. We hypothesised that dogs with congestive heart failure have quantifiable dysbiosis compared to healthy dogs that are similar in sex and age. A total of 50 dogs (15 healthy dogs and 35 dogs with congestive heart failure) were prospectively recruited, and their faecal gut microbiome was assessed using 16S rRNA sequencing (Illumina MiSeq platform). There was no significant change in the microbial diversity and richness in dogs with congestive heart failure. However, there was an increase in abundance of Proteobacteria in the congestive heart failure group (p = 0.014), particularly due to an increase in the family Enterobacteriaceae (p = 0.002) and Escherichia coli (p = 0.033). We conclude that dogs with congestive heart failure have dysbiosis, and we show additional trends in our data suggesting that dogs may have a similar pattern to that described in people. The results of this study provide useful preliminary information and raise the possibility that dogs represent a clinically relevant animal model of dysbiosis in people with heart failure.
Highlights
Compromised gut health and dysbiosis in people with heart failure has received a great deal of attention over the last decade
For each of these 9 species, only one variable remained significant following multivariable analysis. These were: the presence of Congestive heart failure (CHF) for the unclassified species of Enterococcaceae (p = 0.019), E. coli (p = 0.023), [Eubacterium] biforme (p = 0.035), and the unclassified species of Erysipelotrichaceae (p = 0.040); total daily diuretic dose for the unclassified species of Enterobacteriaceae (p = 0.002); muscle condition score (MCS) for the unclassified species of Roseburia (p = 0.017), and the unclassified species of Parabacteroides (p = 0.025); giving human food for the unclassified species of Catenibacterium (p = 0.029); and living with another dog for the unclassified species of [Prevotella] (p = 0.031). In this pilot study we compared the gut microbiome in dogs with CHF to healthy control dogs that were similar in age, sex, size and diet
Our results showed that quantifiable dysbiosis occurs in dogs with CHF, with the most pronounced finding being an increase in the abundance of Proteobacteria, due to an increase in E. coli and an unclassified species of Enterobacteriaceae
Summary
Compromised gut health and dysbiosis in people with heart failure has received a great deal of attention over the last decade. The contribution of the gut microbiota in the development and maintenance of heart failure known as the “gut-hypothesis” details impaired gut health in heart failure patients, resulting in dysbiosis and bacterial translocation across the oedematous mucosal layer[14,15,16] This results in immune-stimulation via endotoxins, contributing to a chronic inflammatory state, malnutrition and cachexia. While this has been the focus for evaluation of novel therapies in people with advanced heart failure, no such research has been described in veterinary m edicine[1,16,17]. Age (years) Sex Female (%) Neutered: entire Male (%) Neutered: entire Breeds (%) Small breeds Large breeds Body weight (kg) BCS (/9) 1/9 2/9 3/9 4/9 5/9 6/9 Muscle conditiona Normal Mild Moderate Severe Diet Dog food Human food Appetite Normal Reduced Duration of CHF (weeks) Medication Diuretic dose (mg/kg/day) Furosemide Torsemide Pimobendan Benazepril Spironolactone Fish oil Diltiazem/digoxin
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