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ABSTRACT: Introduction
Nutritional and environmental stressors can disturb the gut microbiome of horses which may ultimately decrease their health and performance. We hypothesized that supplementation with a yeast-derived postbiotic (Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product-SCFP) would benefit horses undergoing an established model of stress due to prolonged transportation.Methods
Quarter horses (n = 20) were blocked based on sex, age (22 ± 3 mo) and body weight (439 ± 3 kg) and randomized to receive either a basal diet of 60% hay and 40% concentrate (CON) or the basal diet supplemented with 21 g/d Diamond V TruEquine C (SCFP; Diamond V, Cedar Rapids, IA) for 60 days. On day 57, horses were tethered with their heads elevated 35cm above wither height for 12 h to induce mild upper respiratory tract inflammation. Fecal samples were collected at days 0, 28, and 56 before induction of stress, and at 0, 12, 24, and 72 h post-stress and subjected to DNA extraction and Nanopore shotgun metagenomics. Within sample (alpha) diversity was evaluated by fitting a linear model and between sample (beta) diversity was tested with permutational ANOVA.Results
The SCFP stabilized alpha diversity across all time points, whereas CON horses had more fluctuation (P < 0.05) at 12, 24, and 72 h post-challenge compared to d 56. A significant difference between CON and SCFP was observed at 0 and 12 h. There was no difference in beta-diversity between SCFP and CON on d 56.Discussion
Taken together, these observations led us to conclude that treatment with SCFP resulted in more robust and stable microbial profiles in horses after stress challenge.
SUBMITTER: Ganda E
PROVIDER: S-EPMC9998945 | biostudies-literature | 2023
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Frontiers in veterinary science 20230224
<h4>Introduction</h4>Nutritional and environmental stressors can disturb the gut microbiome of horses which may ultimately decrease their health and performance. We hypothesized that supplementation with a yeast-derived postbiotic (<i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> fermentation product-SCFP) would benefit horses undergoing an established model of stress due to prolonged transportation.<h4>Methods</h4>Quarter horses (<i>n</i> = 20) were blocked based on sex, age (22 ± 3 mo) and body weight (439 ± 3 ...[more]