Red Ginseng Dietary Fiber Shows Prebiotic Potential by Modulating Gut Microbiota in Dogs

Abstract

Red ginseng, widely used in traditional medicine for various conditions, imparts health benefits mainly by modulating the gut microbiota in humans. Given the similarities in gut microbiota between humans and dogs, red ginseng-derived dietary fiber may have prebiotic potential in dogs; however, its effects on the gut microbiota in dogs remain elusive. This double-blinded, longitudinal study investigated the impact of red ginseng dietary fiber on the gut microbiota and host response in dogs. A total of 40 healthy household dogs were randomly assigned to low-dose (n = 12), high-dose (n = 16), or control (n = 12) groups and fed a normal diet supplemented with red ginseng dietary fiber (3 g/5 kg body weight per day, 8 g/5 kg per day, or no supplement, respectively) for 8 weeks. The gut microbiota of the dogs was analyzed at 4 weeks and 8 weeks using 16S rRNA gene sequencing of fecal samples. Alpha diversity was significantly increased at 8 and 4 weeks in the low-dose and high-dose groups, respectively. Moreover, biomarker analysis showed that short-chain fatty acid producers such as Sarcina and Proteiniclasticum were significantly enriched, while potential pathogens such as Helicobacter were significantly decreased, indicating the increased gut health and pathogen resistance by red ginseng dietary fiber. Microbial network analysis showed that the complexity of microbial interactions was increased by both doses, indicating the increased stability of the gut microbiota. These findings suggest that red ginseng-derived dietary fiber could be used as a prebiotic to modulate gut microbiota and improve gut health in dogs. IMPORTANCE The canine gut microbiota is an attractive model for translational studies, as it responds to dietary interventions similarly to those in humans. Investigating the gut microbiota of household dogs that share the environment with humans can produce highly generalizable and reproducible results owing to their representativeness of the general canine population. This double-blind and longitudinal study investigated the impact of dietary fiber derived from red ginseng on the gut microbiota of household dogs. Red ginseng dietary fiber altered the canine gut microbiota by increasing diversity, enriching short-chain fatty acid-producing microbes, decreasing potential pathogens, and increasing the complexity of microbial interactions. These findings indicate that red ginseng-derived dietary fiber may promote canine gut health by modulating gut microbiota, suggesting the possibility of its use as a potential prebiotic.

Keywords: dietary fiber; dog; gut microbiota; nanopore sequencing; red ginseng.

FIG 1

Flow chart demonstrating the exclusion criteria of participant dogs used in the present study.

FIG 2

(A and B) Taxonomic composition of the canine gut microbiota during the intake of red ginseng dietary fiber at the (A) phylum and (B) genus levels. Only the top 20 genera are shown.

FIG 3

Alteration in alpha diversity of the gut microbiota of dogs during intake of red ginseng dietary fiber. (A to C) Box plots show the alteration of the number of observed features and Chao1 index in the (A) low-dose, (B) high-dose, and (C) control groups. The boxes represent the interquartile range of the data. The line inside the boxes represents the median of the data. The whiskers extending from the boxes represent the range of the data, excluding any outliers, with the whisker length defined as 1.5 times the interquartile range. Any data points beyond the whiskers are plotted as individual points and are considered outliers.

FIG 4

Differential abundance analysis of the canine gut microbiota. (A) Results of edgeR analysis between 0 and 4 weeks and 0 and 8 weeks in the low-dose group. (B) Results of edgeR analysis between 0 and 4 weeks and 0 and 8 weeks in the high-dose group.

FIG 5

Alterations in the ecological network of the canine gut microbiota owing to the intake of red ginseng dietary fiber. (A and B) Cooccurrence network of the gut microbiome in the (A) low-dose and (B) high-dose groups at the genus level. The cooccurrence network was generated using NAMAP with Spearman’s correlation. Interactions showing P < 0.05 and r > 0.7 were considered significant. Positive and negative correlations are shown as blue and red lines, respectively. (C and D) Venn diagrams show the shared and unique nodes of the cooccurrence networks in the (C) low-dose and (D) high-dose groups. Asterisks denote the genus that was enriched after 4 weeks or 8 weeks in differential abundance analysis.