A potential age-dependent effect of antibiotics on the gut microbiome in dogs with inflammatory bowel disease

Authors

  • Eric Bhang University of British Columbia
  • Aditya Rao
  • Alec Robinson

Abstract

Dogs with inflammatory bowel disease have a dysregulation of the normal gut microbial composition. Antibiotics are used as a therapeutic tool that aim to modulate the gut microbiome to favour beneficial bacteria and alleviate this dysbiosis. However, there are a lack of studies focused on antibiotic mediated dysbiosis within dogs, as well as how this is affected by age. Here, we sought to help close this knowledge gap by exploring changes in the IBD dog gut microbiome based on antibiotic status as well as age using alpha and beta diversity analysis, as well as differential abundance testing. We found that there were no significant differences between dog microbiome composition and diversity despite differing antibiotic treatment status. As well, phylogenetic diversity increased in younger dogs compared to older ones, solely in the antibiotic treatment group. Our results suggest potential age-specific effects of antibiotic treatment on the microbiome of dogs with inflammatory bowel disease that provide further insight for veterinary medicine, assessment of dogs as models for humans, and further studies involving the role of antibiotics on the gut microbiota during gastrointestinal pathology.

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Published

2021-09-06