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. 2025 Mar-Apr;39(2):e17293.
doi: 10.1111/jvim.17293.

Pre-clinical enteropathy in healthy soft-coated wheaten terriers

M Katherine Tolbert  1 , Jewels Darrow  2 , Louise Grubb  3 , Stuart Fitzgerald  3 , Rebecca Bergee  4 , Josh Price  4 , Marcos Mariano  5 , Michael Hong  1 , Chi-Hsuan Sung  1 , Tracy Hill  6 , Joerg M Steiner  1 , Jan S Suchodolski  1
Affiliations

Pre-clinical enteropathy in healthy soft-coated wheaten terriers

M Katherine Tolbert et al. J Vet Intern Med. 2025 Mar-Apr.

Erratum in

Abstract

Background: Soft-coated wheaten terriers (SCWTs) have a predisposition to the development of protein-losing enteropathy (PLE). Early recognition of disease may improve morbidity and mortality in these and other at-risk dogs. Preclinical inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), characterized by increased intestinal permeability, immune dysregulation and inflammation, and changes to the gut microbial composition, or biochemical evidence of disease many years before development of clinical signs, has been proposed for people at risk for IBD.

Hypothesis/objectives: Determine if changes in fecal metabolites and intestinal permeability could be identified in SCWTs before development of clinical signs. We hypothesized that, in contrast to healthy non-SCWT dogs, healthy SCWT would have changes similar to those of dogs with PLE.

Animals: Twelve healthy SCWTs, 10 healthy non-SCWTs, and 8 PLE dogs.

Methods: Prospective study. Fecal calprotectin, targeted metabolites and unconjugated bile acids, intestinal permeability testing, and video capsule endoscopy were evaluated. Single-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to evaluate fecal metabolites and bile acids for group differences. A repeated-measures mixed model ANOVA was performed for blood lactulose:galactose area under the curve (AUC).

Results: Significant differences among groups were found for several fecal fatty acids and sterols. Healthy non-SCWT dogs, but not healthy SCWTs, were found to have significantly lower AUCs than PLE dogs (P = .04).

Conclusions: Healthy SCWT dogs had changes in several biomarkers used to identify preclinical IBD in humans.

Keywords: calprotectin; canine; dysbiosis; intestinal permeability; leaky gut; protein‐losing enteropathy.

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Conflict of interest statement

L. Grubb is the CEO and founder of TriviumVet and S. Fitzgerald is the Head of Clinical Affairs at TriviumVet. M. K. Tolbert is a member of the TriviumVet scientific advisory board. M. K. Tolbert, C. H. Sung, M. Hong, J Steiner, and J Suchodolski are employed by the Gastrointestinal Laboratory at Texas A&M University, which provides assays for intestinal function, microbiota, and fecal fatty acid, sterol, and bile acid analysis on a fee‐for‐service basis. This is a case‐controlled study in which multiple quantitative and qualitative variables were measured. Data were analyzed by independent, statisticians blinded to the results. Intestinal permeability data were measured by an independent laboratory blinded to the results. The lactulose: galactose intestinal permeability testing methodology described is subject to patent protection filed by TriviumVet.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Comparison of dysbiosis index (DI) among groups of dogs. Bacterial abundance is expressed as log DNA. The gray area represents the reference interval. Significant dysbiosis (DI >2 ); mild to moderate changes (DI 0‐2); minor changes (DI < 2, with individual bacterial groups outside the reference interval); normal (DI < 2, with no shifts in the overall diversity of the intestinal microbiota). Horizontal red lines represent medians. One dog with PLE was excluded from reporting of DI because of a recent history of antibiotic administration.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Principal component analysis of fecal fatty acids and sterols in healthy non‐SCWT (red, “control”), healthy SCWT (green), and dogs with PLE (blue). The amount of variance explained by the 3 PCs for fecal fatty acids and sterols was 66% (17.2 + 37 + 11.7%).
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Comparison of intestinal permeability among groups. The data represents the summation of the AUC over a 60‐minute period. A marginally significant difference (P = .05) was identified between healthy non‐SCWT dogs and dogs with PLE. An outlier in the PLE group with a value of 19.4 is not pictured to best visually represent the data among groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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