Dog stool microbiome predicts canine inflammatory bowel disease.(IBD)

A study published in October of Nature Microbiology shows a pattern of microbes that is indicative of inflammatory bowel disease that has been identified in dogs. The more than 90 % accuracy test, the team used that information to predict which dogs had IBD. They also determined that the gut microbiomes of dogs and humans are not similar enough to use dogs as animal models for humans with this disease. In this latest study, the team collected fecal samples from 85 healthy dogs and 65 dogs with chronic signs of gastrointestinal disease and inflammatory changes confirmed by pathology. To determine which microbial species were living in each sample, they used a technique , called 16S rRNA sequencing, to quickly identify millions of bacterial species living in a mixed sample, based on the unique genes they harbor. With this information, the researchers were able to look for similarities and differences in the microbial species found in IBD and non-IBD dogs. The differences were significant enough that they could distinguish IBD dog feces from non-IBD with more than 90 percent accuracy.