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. 2022 Jan 6;4(1):6.
doi: 10.1186/s42523-021-00160-x.

Weight-loss in obese dogs promotes important shifts in fecal microbiota profile to the extent of resembling microbiota of lean dogs

Henrique Tobaro Macedo  1 , Mariana Fragoso Rentas  1 , Thiago Henrique Annibale Vendramini  1 , Matheus Vinicius Macegoza  1 , Andressa Rodrigues Amaral  1 , Juliana Toloi Jeremias  2 , Júlio César de Carvalho Balieiro  1 , Karina Pfrimer  3 , Eduardo Ferriolli  3 , Cristiana Ferreira Fonseca Pontieri  2 , Marcio Antonio Brunetto  4
Affiliations

Weight-loss in obese dogs promotes important shifts in fecal microbiota profile to the extent of resembling microbiota of lean dogs

Henrique Tobaro Macedo et al. Anim Microbiome. .

Abstract

Background: Among the undesirable changes associated with obesity, one possibility recently raised is dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota. Studies have shown changes in microbiota in obese rats and humans, but there are still few studies that characterize and compare the fecal microbiota of lean, obese and dogs after weight loss. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of a weight loss program (WLP) in fecal microbiota of dogs in addition to comparing them with those of lean dogs. Twenty female dogs of different breeds, aged between 1 and 9 years were selected. They were equally divided into two groups: Obese group (OG), with body condition score (BCS) 8 or 9/9, and body fat percentage greater than 30%, determined by the deuterium isotope dilution method, and lean group (LG) with BCS 5/9, and maximum body fat of 15%. Weight loss group (WLG) was composed by OG after loss of 20% of their current body weight. Fecal samples were collected from the three experimental groups. Total DNA was extracted from the feces and these were sequenced by the Illumina methodology. The observed abundances were evaluated using a generalized linear model, considering binomial distribution and using the logit link function in SAS (p < 0.05).

Results: The WLP modulated the microorganisms of the gastrointestinal tract, so that, WLG and LG had microbial composition with greater biodiversity than OG, and intestinal uniformity of the microbiota (Pielou's evenness index) was higher in OG than WLG dogs (P = 0.0493) and LG (P = 0.0101). In addition, WLG had values of relative frequency more similar to LG than to OG.

Conclusion: The fecal microbiota of the studied groups differs from each other. The weight loss program can help to reverse the changes observed in obese dogs.

Keywords: Canine; Dysbiosis; Gastrointestinal tract; Microbiome; Obesity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Faith phylogenetic diversity index and Pielou´s evenness index of the experimental groups (OG: obese group; WLG: weight loss group; LG: lean group)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Shannon alpha-diversity index and OTUs count of experimental groups (OG: obese group; WLG: weight loss group; LG: lean group)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Three-dimensional analysis of principal components with the absolute data obtained by sequencing of the samples of the experimental groups (OG: obese group; WLG: weight loss group; LG: lean group)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Relative abundance of each phyla found in experimental groups (OG: obese group; WLG: weight loss group; LG: lean group). a,b,cMeans followed by different letters differ by 5% in the Tukey test adjusted by PROC GLIMMIX
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Relative abundance of families found in experimental groups (OG: obese group; WLG: weight loss group; LG: lean group). a,b,cMeans followed by different letters differ by 5% in the Tukey test adjusted by PROC GLIMMIX
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Relative abundance of genera found in experimental groups (OG: obese group; WLG: weight loss group; LG: lean group). a,b,cMeans followed by different letters differ by 5% in the Tukey test adjusted by PROC GLIMMIX
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