Fusobacterium is the most abundant genus in canine fecal samples and, unlike in humans, it is considered beneficial for dogs. Decreased abundance of Fuso- bacterium is associated with gastrointestinal disease, and metronidazole and tylosin, the most commonly prescribed antimicrobials for dogs with diarrhea, cause further decreases in its abundance. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of rifaximin treatment, previously found to be as effective as metronidazole in dogs with chronic enteritis, in Fusobacterium abundance and in fecal dysbiosis index, and compare it to metronidazole. Fecal samples were collected from 13 dogs with diarrhea, randomly assigned to be treated with rifaximin (RIF 25 mg/kg q12h, n=6) or metronidazole (MET 15 mg/kg q12 h, n=7) for 10 days, at days 0, 10, 25 and 40. Fecal samples were also collected from healthy controls (HC, n=19). DNA was extracted an qPCR was performed for Fusobacterium, and the fecal dysbiosis index (DI) was calculated. Statistics analysis was performed with Friedman’s test, and Kruskall-Wallis followed by Dunn’s multiple comparisons test. As expected, metronidazole administration caused a significant decrease in Fusobacterium abundance compared to baseline (p=0.008) and HC (p=0.018), and a signifi- cant increase in DI compared to baseline (p=0.016) and HC (p<0.001). Rifax- imin, instead, did not affect Fusobacterium abundance compared to baseline (p=0.956) and HC (p>0.999). While DI was not significantly different from baseline (p=0.740), at day 10 DI in RIF was significantly higher than HC (p=0.031). However, the median DI value at day 10 was smaller in RIF (0.4) than MET (2.4), indicating that rifaximin induced less gut dysbiosis than metronidazole. Our results indicate that, unlike metronidazole, rifaximin did not affect Fusobacterium abundances, and only caused mild dysbiosis. Further studies are needed to evaluate rifaximin as an alternative to metronidazole in the treatment of diarrhea in dogs.
Evaluation of the Effect of Rifaximin Treatment in Fusobacterium Abundance and Fecal Dysbiosis in Dogs / Pilla, R.; Menozzi, A.; Bertini, S.; Ishii, P. E.; Lidbury, J. A.; Steiner, J. M.; Suchodolski, J. S.. - (2020). (Intervento presentato al convegno “Anaerobe 2020”, The Anaerobe Society of the America).
Evaluation of the Effect of Rifaximin Treatment in Fusobacterium Abundance and Fecal Dysbiosis in Dogs
Menozzi, A.;Bertini, S.;
2020-01-01
Abstract
Fusobacterium is the most abundant genus in canine fecal samples and, unlike in humans, it is considered beneficial for dogs. Decreased abundance of Fuso- bacterium is associated with gastrointestinal disease, and metronidazole and tylosin, the most commonly prescribed antimicrobials for dogs with diarrhea, cause further decreases in its abundance. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of rifaximin treatment, previously found to be as effective as metronidazole in dogs with chronic enteritis, in Fusobacterium abundance and in fecal dysbiosis index, and compare it to metronidazole. Fecal samples were collected from 13 dogs with diarrhea, randomly assigned to be treated with rifaximin (RIF 25 mg/kg q12h, n=6) or metronidazole (MET 15 mg/kg q12 h, n=7) for 10 days, at days 0, 10, 25 and 40. Fecal samples were also collected from healthy controls (HC, n=19). DNA was extracted an qPCR was performed for Fusobacterium, and the fecal dysbiosis index (DI) was calculated. Statistics analysis was performed with Friedman’s test, and Kruskall-Wallis followed by Dunn’s multiple comparisons test. As expected, metronidazole administration caused a significant decrease in Fusobacterium abundance compared to baseline (p=0.008) and HC (p=0.018), and a signifi- cant increase in DI compared to baseline (p=0.016) and HC (p<0.001). Rifax- imin, instead, did not affect Fusobacterium abundance compared to baseline (p=0.956) and HC (p>0.999). While DI was not significantly different from baseline (p=0.740), at day 10 DI in RIF was significantly higher than HC (p=0.031). However, the median DI value at day 10 was smaller in RIF (0.4) than MET (2.4), indicating that rifaximin induced less gut dysbiosis than metronidazole. Our results indicate that, unlike metronidazole, rifaximin did not affect Fusobacterium abundances, and only caused mild dysbiosis. Further studies are needed to evaluate rifaximin as an alternative to metronidazole in the treatment of diarrhea in dogs.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
