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L’Enteropatia da glutine (GSE) del Setter irlandese è una intolleranza alimentare immuno-mediata nei confronti del glutine (la proteina che si trova in frumento, orzo, segale e avena), che ricorda la malattia celiaca dell’uomo. Le lesioni istologiche intestinali comprendono parziale atrofia dei villi, infiltrato di linfociti e plasmacellule nella lamina propria ed aumento dei linfociti intraepiteliali. La GSE viene trasmessa secondo un modello di ereditarietà autosomico recessivo e nella sua patogenesi sembra essere coinvolta l’immunità cellulo-mediata ma non quella umorale. Ad oggi, non è ben chiaro quale significato abbia il più basso livello di anticorpi antigliadina riscontrato nei Setter malati rispetto ai soggetti sani. I Setter irlandesi affetti da GSE presentano diarrea cronica intermittente e perdita di peso. L’impiego di diete privative non contenenti glutine è indispensabile sia per poter giungere ad una diagnosi certa della patologia sia per instaurare la terapia. The gluten-sensitive enteropathy (GSE) of Irish Setters is an immune-mediated food adverse reaction caused by gluten (the protein found in wheat, barley, rye and oat) which has several similarities with human celiac disease. Intestinal histological lesions include partial villous atrophy, infiltration of lymphocytes and plasma cells in the lamina propria, and increased intraepithelial lymphocytes. The GSE is transmitted according to an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern and its pathogenesis seems to involve cell-mediated but not humoral immunity. To date, it is unclear why Irish Setters suffering from GSE have lower levels of gliadin antibodies than healthy subjects. The Irish Setters affected by GSE show intermittent chronic diarrhea and weight loss. The utilization of elimination diets not containing gluten is essential for both a reliable diagnosis and therapy of this disease.

Intestinal dysbiosis and adverse food reactions are involved in the pathogenesis of food responsive enteropathy (FRE) in dogs. Various options for an elimination diet are available, and a vegetable dry food is one alternative. Dietary interventions are thought to alter gut microbial communities in healthy individuals and the resolution of dysbiosis is expected in diseased animals concurrent with remission of clinical signs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate changes in fecal microbiota in dogs with FRE before and after an elimination dietary trial with a vegetable diet. The same vegetable diet trial was performed in healthy control dogs (HC) to evaluate changes in fecal microbiota before and after the trial, and to compare them to FRE dogs.Dogs with FRE (n = 10) and HC (n = 14) were fed the vegetable diet for 60 days. Fecal samples were collected before and after the dietary trial. Fecal genomic DNA was extracted and used for Illumina sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. Sequence data were analyzed using the QIIME pipeline. The dysbiosis index of the sequence data was calculated using a published mathematical model, and a score >0 was considered as dysbiotic. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Significantly lower alpha diversity was observed in dogs with FRE-baseline compared to HC-baseline and FRE-after trial. Distinct microbial communities were observed in dogs with FREbaseline compared to HC-baseline (ANOSIM P = 0.001) and dogs with FRE-after trial (ANOSIM P = 0.032). Microbial communities were still different in FRE-after trial compared to HC-baseline (ANOSIM P = 0.001). The calculated dysbiosis index was higher in dogs with FRE-baseline compared to HC-baseline (P = 0.022), but no significance difference was observed between FRE-after trial and HC-baseline. The fecal microbiota in HC did not show any significant differences before vs. after the vegetable dietary trial. Results of this study suggest that in FRE dogs, treatment with the vegetable elimination diet led to partial recovery of the fecal microbiota by significantly increasing microbiota richness, which was significantly closer to healthy microbiota after treatment. In contrast, no changes were detected in fecal microbiota of healthy control dogs fed with the same vegetable diet.

The in vitro effect of a Yucca schidigera extract (YSE) and tannins from chestnut wood on composition and metabolic activity of canine and feline faecal microbiota was evaluated. Four treatments were carried out: control diet, chestnut tannins (CT), YSE and CT + YSE. The YSE was added to canine and feline faecal cultures at 0.1 g/l, while CT were added at 0.3 g/l for a 24-h incubation. A total of 130 volatile compounds were detected by means of headspace-solid phase microextraction gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry analyses. Several changes in the metabolite profiles of fermentation fluids were found, including a decrease of alcohols (−19%) and esters (−42%) in feline and canine inoculum, respectively, which was due to the antibacterial properties of tannins. In canine inoculum, after 6 h, YSE + CT caused lower cadaverine concentrations (−37%), while ammonia (−4%) and quinolone (−27%) were reduced by addition of CT. After 24 h, the presence of CT resulted in a decrease of sulphur compounds, such as dimethyl sulphide (−69%) and dimethyl disulphide (−20%). In feline faecal cultures, after 6 h, CT lowered the amount of indole (−48%), whereas YSE tended to decrease trimethylamine levels (−16%). Both in canine and feline inoculum, addition of CT and, to a minor extent, YSE affected volatile fatty acids patterns. In canine faecal cultures, CT exerted a marginal inhibitory effect on Escherichia coli population (−0.45 log 10 numbers of DNA copies/ml), while enterococci were increased (+2.06 log 10 numbers of DNA copies/ml) by YSE. The results from the present study show that YSE and tannins from chestnut wood exert different effects on the composition and metabolism of canine and feline faecal microbiota. In particular, the supplementation of YSE and tannins to diets for dogs and cats may be beneficial due to the reduction of the presence of some potentially toxic volatile metabolites in the animals’ intestine.

Exact aetiology for inflammatory chronic enteropathies in dogs remains unknown. Accumulating evidence suggests a pivotal role for intestinal dysbiosis in disease pathogenesis. Many studies have evaluated the alteration of faecal microbiota in canine chronic gastrointestinal (GI) disease, and less research is focused on mucosal microbiota, especially in the ileum and colon. The objectives of the current study were to evaluate ileal and colonic mucosal microbiota in dogs with steroid responsive enteropathy (SRE) before and after 4 months of treatment, and to compare them to control dogs (CD). A total of 10 dogs diagnosed with SRE were enrolled. Complete GI endoscopy was performed and samples were collected by a cytology brush at diagnosis (SRE-Baseline, n = 10) and after 4 month of treatment (SRE-After, n = 8). Oral laxative and 2–4 water enemas were performed before endoscopy. A total of 6 CD that were euthanized for reasons unrelated to this study, with no GI disease, were included. Samples from CD were obtained during necropsy within 3 hours of death. Mucosal genomic DNA was extracted and used for Illumina sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. Sequence data were analysed using the QIIME pipeline. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Clinical signs improved significantly after 4 month of treatment in SRE, but no improvement was seen on endoscopic or histological evaluation. Significant differences in microbial communities between SRE-baseline and CD were observed in the colon (ANOSIM P = 0.002), but not in the ileum (ANOSIM P = 0.180). In dogs with SRE, both ileal and colonic microbial communities remained similar after 4 month of treatment (ANOSIM P = 0.189 and P = 0.637, respectively), and were different from CD (ANOSIM P = 0.001 and P = 0.004, respectively). Results of this study suggest that the mucosal microbiota in the colon of dogs with SRE is different from that of CD. Although clinical signs improved, colonic mucosal dysbiosis was still present after 4 months of treatment.

La presente prova ha coinvolto 40 suini, maschi castrati, ibridi commerciali destinati alla produzione del Prosciutto di Parma. Gli animali sono stati suddivisi in due gruppi omogenei di 20 suini ciascuno e allevati fino al peso medio di macellazione di 160kg. Per tutto il ciclo produttivo, il gruppo di controllo (C) ha ricevuto il fotoperiodo minimo richiesto dalla normativa comunitaria (8 ore di luce al giorno), mentre il gruppo L ha ricevuto 16 ore di luce al giorno. I suini L hanno mostrato un maggiore peso vivo e peso della carcassa rispetto ai C (P=0.005 e 0.007, rispettivamente). Inoltre, le cosce ottenute dal gruppo L erano significativamente più pesanti e il loro calo di peso durante la stagionatura era ridotto (P

The microbiota of the hindgut plays a very important role in maintaining the state of health of the gastrointestinal tract and, generally speaking, of the host. The utilization of specific dietary supplements containing viable probiotic bacteria might positively influence composition and metabolism of the intestinal microbial population. In farm animals, the use of probiotics has been reported to improve the immune system efficiency, increase resistance against enteropathogenic bacteria, and improve feed utilization and growth performance. When administered to companion animals such as dogs and cats, probiotics may stimulate the immune system and improve gastrointestinal health. In Europe, probiotics are classified as zootechnical feed additives and can be marketed only after specific authorization. Today, building a registration dossier to prove the safety and efficacy of a probiotic strain is very expensive and time-consuming. As a consequence, only a few strains (mainly Gram-positive bacteria belonging to the types Bacillus, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus or Pediococcus, and certain yeast strains) are present on the European market as feed additives to be used in animal nutrition. This paper presents an overview of the scientific literature dealing with the use of probiotics both in farm and companion animals.

Dairy cows are usually fed amounts of vitamins and trace minerals that largely exceed their minimum requirements. This study was conducted at the experimental dairy farm of the University of Bologna and was aimed at evaluating the effect of feeding a vitamin and trace mineral mix to dairy cows that had previously not received any supplementation of these nutrients. Thirty Holstein dairy cows were fed for 8 months a total mixed ratio with no vitamin and trace mineral supplementation. After this period, animals were divided into two groups of 15 cows each (homogenous for milk yield, days in milk and age) receiving for 60 days a total mixed ratio (12.2 kg grass hay, 2.8 kg dehydrated alfalfa, 8.4 kg corn meal, 2.2 kg soybean meal, 0.9 kg molasses, 0.2 sodium bicarbonate, 0.1 kg sodium chloride) added or not (control) with a vitamin and trace mineral mix (VTM mix). Control diet met dairy cow minimum requirements for manganese and iron but covered only 50 and 40% of zinc and copper requirements (NRC, 2001), respectively; conversely, all trace mineral requirements were met in cows receiving the VTM mix. During the whole experimental period, compared with data previously collected at the same farm, incidence of health events was not increased by not supplementing cows with vitamins and trace minerals. Feeding the VTM mix did not influence milk yield and composition. Similarly, plasma total protein, albumin, globulins, lysozyme and haptoglobin concentrations were not affected by diet. After 30 days, haemolytic complement activity was higher (50.0 vs. 42.8 C’H50/150 µl; P

Profitable and healthy piglet rearing starts with the proper development of intestinal flora and prebiotics to stimulate the growth of desired micro-organisms and reduce the presence of pathogenic bacteria in the intestinal tract. However, as intensive livestock husbandry is marked by an early weaning, the development of the gastro intestinal tract is already severely challenged in the first weeks of the young piglets’ life.