Effects of Saccharomyces boulardii Supplementation on Nutritional Status, Fecal Parameters, Microbiota, and Mycobiota in Breeding Adult Dogs

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the administration of Saccharomyces boulardii on the nutritional, immunological, inflammatory, and stress status and on the composition of the gut microbiota and mycobiota in healthy adult dogs. A total of 25 American Staffordshire Terrier dogs were selected and randomly assigned to two groups: control (CTR, n = 12) and treated (TRT, n = 13) groups. No significant differences were found between the two groups regarding body weight, body condition score, and fecal score. No significant differences in microbiota/mycobiota, short chain fatty acids, indole/skatole, histamine, zonulin, or lactoferrin were detected. Indeed, supplementation with S. boulardii significantly decreased fecal calprotectin Immunoglobulin A, indicating an improvement in the gut well-being. Interestingly, fecal cortisol significantly decreased in dogs belonging to the TRT group compared to the CTR, suggesting both an improvement of the intestinal status and a reduction of stress, a common condition affecting animals managed in a breeding environment.

Keywords: Italy; alternative medicine; pet; supplement.

Figure 1

Concentration of cortisol (pg/mg) and indole/skatole (μmol/g) in the control (CRT) and treated (TRT) groups at each time point (T0 to T5). Graph bars with asterisks indicate significant differences between the dietary treatments within each sampling time; * = p < 0.05, and *** = p < 0.001.

Figure 2

Relative frequency of the main bacterial ASVs in fecal samples of dogs fed with control or treated with probiotic during the trial. Graph bars indicate the 15 replicates per each sampling point.

Figure 3

Relative frequency of differentially abundant bacterial ASVs in fecal samples of dogs during the experimental trial. Pairwise Kruskal–Wallis test, FDR < 0.05.

Figure 4

Relative frequency of differentially abundant fungal ASVs in fecal samples of dogs during the experimental trial. Pairwise Kruskal–Wallis test, FDR < 0.05.

Figure 5

Relative frequency of the main fungal ASVs in fecal samples of dogs fed with control (C) or probiotic during the trial. Graph bars indicate the average of 15 fecal samples of dogs as replicate per each sampling point.