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. 2021 Oct;62(10):1123-1130.

Evaluation of changes in microbiota after fecal microbiota transplantation in 6 diarrheic horses

Marcio Costa  1 , Rebecca Di Pietro  1 , José Antonio Bessegatto  1 , Priscilla Fajardo Valente Pereira  1 , Fernanda C Stievani  1 , Roberta Gaberlini Gomes  1 , Júlio A N Lisbôa  1 , J Scott Weese  1
Affiliations

Evaluation of changes in microbiota after fecal microbiota transplantation in 6 diarrheic horses

Marcio Costa et al. Can Vet J. 2021 Oct.

Abstract
in English, French

The purpose of this study was to characterize the fecal microbiota of horses with acute and chronic diarrhea before and after fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT). Six client-owned horses with acute and chronic diarrhea received FMT from 2 healthy donor horses. Microbiota analysis using next-generation sequencing was performed on fecal samples collected before and 2 and 7 d after FMT. Signs of diarrhea improved in 4 horses, whereas the remaining 2 horses did not survive. There was a significant difference in the number of bacterial species between donors and recipients (P < 0.05). The Order Lactobacillales and the genera Lactobacillus, Intestinimonas, and Streptococcus were increased in the microbiota of diarrheic horses, and Saccharofermentans genus increased in healthy donors. The results suggest that FMT from the healthy donors was not effective over a 7-day period as it did not change the fecal microbiota of the diarrheic horses. Further research to improve the efficacy of FMT in horses is needed.

Évaluation des modifications du microbiote après une transplantation de microbiote fécal chez six chevaux avec la diarrhée. Le but de cette étude était de caractériser le microbiote fécal des chevaux souffrant de diarrhée aiguë et chronique avant et après la transplantation de microbiote fécal (FMT). Six chevaux souffrant de diarrhée aiguë et chronique et appartenant à des clients ont reçu des FMT provenant de deux chevaux donneurs en bonne santé. Une analyse du microbiote a été réalisée sur des échantillons fécaux prélevés avant et 2 et 7 jours après la FMT. Les signes de la diarrhée se sont améliorés chez 4 des 6 chevaux, tandis que les deux autres n’ont pas survécu. Il y avait une différence significative dans la richesse bactérienne entre les donneurs et les récipients (P < 0,05). L’ordre Lactobacillales, et les genres Lactobacillus, Intestinimonas et Streptococcus ont été associés au microbiote des chevaux diarrhéiques et le genre Saccharofermentanes à celui des donneurs sains. Les résultats suggèrent que la FMT n’a pas réussi à changer le microbiote fécal des chevaux diarrhéiques sur une période de 7 jours. Des recherches supplémentaires pour améliorer l’efficacité de la FMT chez les chevaux sont nécessaires.(Traduit par les auteurs).

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Alpha diversity indices. A — Observed OTUs of healthy donor horses and FMT recipients. B — Simpson’s index of healthy donor horses and FMT recipients. Statistical analysis was performed using Student’s t-tests. Bars represent mean and SD. * P ≤ 0.05.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) of bacterial communities in the feces of healthy donor horses and FMT recipients. Bidimensional representation of the principal coordinate analysis of bacterial communities’ membership addressed by the Classic Jaccard analysis (A) and structure addressed by the Yue and Clayton analysis (B). D0 represents the bacterial community before FMT administration, and D2 and D7 represent the bacterial community 2 and 7 d after FMT administration, respectively. Donor samples 1, 3, 5, and 6 represent samples from the donor at the UEL Veterinary Hospital (UVH), whereas donor sample 4 represents the donor at UVH. Samples from FMT recipients cluster together in membership and structure.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) analysis. LEfSe analysis indicating genera that were signifi cantly differentially abundant between healthy donor horses (class: Donor) and FMT recipients (class: Diarrhea).
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