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. 2023 Aug 9:10:1204159.
doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1204159. eCollection 2023.

Impacts to canine dermal microbiota associated with repeated bathing

Dakota Discepolo  1 , Russell Kelley  2 , Adrian Watson  2 , Erin Perry  1
Affiliations

Impacts to canine dermal microbiota associated with repeated bathing

Dakota Discepolo et al. Front Vet Sci. .

Abstract

Introduction: Working dogs routinely operate in environmental conditions which may necessitate daily bathing to remove contaminants or soilage. The impacts of frequent or repeated bathing on the canine dermal microbiota are unknown. The objective of this study was to characterize changes in canine dermal microbial populations following repeated daily bathing.

Methods: Labrador retrievers (n = 16) were bathed daily using a dilute dish detergent solution (1.6% detergent solution) over the course of 14 days. Dermal microbial DNA was collected via sterile swabs (n = 142) taken at days 0, 7, 14, 16, 21, 28, 35, 42, and 49 and analyzed for alpha diversity, beta diversity and relative abundance to assess changes in the dermal microbiota via 16 s sequencing.

Results: Results indicate that daily bathing significantly increased Shannon diversity, Chao1, and several rare amplicon sequence variants. Although typically reported in highest abundance, relative abundance was decreased in the phyla Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Repeated daily bathing with dilute dish detergent significantly reduced normal healthy dermal microbial taxa and created significant changes in the dermal microbiota of canines. Disruption to the canine dermal microbiota may cause negative impacts to canine dermal health and require further investigation.

Keywords: bathing; canine; decontamination; dermal microbiota; working dog.

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Conflict of interest statement

RK and AW were employed by Royal Canin SAS. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PCoA of Bray Curtis distance colored by study day (p = 0.001, R2 = 0.27).
Figure 2
Figure 2
PCoA of Bray-Curtis distance colored by day (p = 0.001, R2 = 0.27) and shaped by dander score (p = 0.025, R2 = 0.0708).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Boxplot showing abundance of Cyanobacteria for different levels of back dander (p < 0.001) by day (p = 0.69).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Daily bathing significantly increased Shannon Diversity Index (p < 0.001), Chao1 (p < 0.001), and number of ASVs observed (p < 0.001).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Boxplot showing Chao1 index for different levels of back dander (p = 0.0389).
Figure 6
Figure 6
PCoA of Bray-Curtis distance colored by dogs (p = 0.001 R2 = 0.31).
Figure 7
Figure 7
Daily bathing decreased the abundances of taxa Actinobacteria (p < 0.001), Firmicutes (p < 0.001), and Proteobacteria (p < 0.001) at the Phylum level.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Heatmap showing CLR-transformed abundances of the top 25 most abundant genera that were significantly changed over time. If a genus is unclassified, its higher taxonomic level is shown in the heatmap.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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