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Microbiota-Related Changes in Unconjugated Fecal Bile Acids Are Associated With Naturally Occurring, Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus in Dogs
Frontiers in Veterinary Science
  • Albert E. Jergens, Iowa State University
  • Blake C. Guard, Texas A&M University
  • Alana Redfern, Iowa State University
  • Giacomo Rossi, University of Camerino
  • Jonathan P. Mochel, Iowa State University
  • Rachel Pilla, Texas A&M University
  • Lawrance Chandra, Iowa State University
  • Yeon-Jung Seo, Iowa State University
  • Joerg M. Steiner, Texas A&M University
  • Jonathan Lidbury, Texas A&M University
  • Karin Allenspach, Iowa State University
  • Jan Suchodolski, Texas A&M University
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
6-27-2019
DOI
10.3389/fvets.2019.00199
Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (DM) in humans has recently been associated with altered intestinal microbiota. The consequences of intestinal dysbiosis, such as increased intestinal permeability and altered microbial metabolites, are suspected to contribute to the host inflammatory state and peripheral insulin resistance. Human diabetics have been shown to have changes in bile acid (BA) metabolism which may be detrimental to glycemic control. The purpose of this study was to examine BA metabolism in dogs with naturally-occurring, insulin-dependent DM and to relate these findings to changes in the intestinal microbiota. A prospective observational study of adult dogs with a clinical diagnosis of DM (n = 10) and healthy controls (HC, n = 10) was performed. The fecal microbiota were analyzed by 16S rRNA gene next-generation (Illumina) sequencing. Concentrations of fecal unconjugated BA (fUBA) were measured using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Analysis of bacterial communities showed no significant difference for any of the alpha-diversity measures between DM vs. HC dogs. Principal coordinate analysis based on unweighted Unifrac distance metric failed to show significant clustering between dog groups (ANOSIMUnweighted: R = 0.084; p = 0.114). However, linear discriminate analysis effects size (LEfSe) detected differentially abundant bacterial taxa (α = 0.01, LDA score >2.0) on various phylogenetic levels. While Enterobacteriaceae was overrepresented in dogs with DM, the proportions of Erysipelotrichia, Mogibacteriaceae, and Anaeroplasmataceae were increased in HC dogs. Dogs with DM had increased concentration of total primary fUBA compared to HC dogs (p = 0.028). The concentrations of cholic acid and the cholic acid percentage of the total fUBA were increased (p = 0.028 and p = 0.035, respectively) in the feces of DM dogs relative to HC dogs. The levels of lithocholic acid (both absolute value and percentage of the total fUBA) were decreased (p = 0.043 and p < 0.01, respectively) in DM dogs vs. HC dogs. Results indicate that dogs with DM have both intestinal dysbiosis and associated fUBA alterations. The pattern of dysbiosis and altered BA composition is similar to that seen in humans with Type 2 DM. The dog represents a novel large animal model for advancing translational medicine research efforts (e.g., investigating pathogenesis and therapeutics) in DM affecting humans.

Comments

This article is published as Jergens, Albert E., Blake C. Guard, Alana Redfern, Giacomo Rossi, Jonathan P. Mochel, Rachel Pilla, Lawrance Chandra, Yeon-Jung Seo, Joerg M. Steiner, Jonathan Lidbury, Karin Allenspach, and Jan Suchodolski. "Microbiota-Related Changes in Unconjugated Fecal Bile Acids are Associated with Naturally Occurring, Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus in Dogs." Frontiers in Veterinary Science 6 (2019): 199. DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2019.00199. Posted with permission.

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Copyright Owner
Jergens, Guard, Redfern, Rossi, Mochel, Pilla, Chandra, Seo, Steiner, Lidbury, Allenspach and Suchodolski
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
Albert E. Jergens, Blake C. Guard, Alana Redfern, Giacomo Rossi, et al.. "Microbiota-Related Changes in Unconjugated Fecal Bile Acids Are Associated With Naturally Occurring, Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus in Dogs" Frontiers in Veterinary Science Vol. 6 (2019) p. 199
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jonathan-mochel/48/