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The aim of the study was to investigate if the inclusion of chickpeas or peas in the diet can modify faecal microbiome in dogs. Eight healthy adult Border collie, fed a commercial extruded diet as reference diet (RD), were divided in two groups of four individuals. At the beginning of the trial, one group received a diet based mainly of raw meat, rice and chickpeas (CP) and in the other group this pulse was substituted with peas (PE). After 14 days, the dogs with CP diet shifted to the PE and those with PE shifted to the CP diet, for another 14 days. Faeces were collected at the beginning (T0), after 14 days (T14) and at the end of the study (T28). Faeces were analysed for 16S rRNA, short chain fatty acids (SCFA), lactate, pH and faecal score was also evaluated. The SCFA and lactate in the faeces were not affected by the inclusion of pulses, with the only exception of isovalerate, which was higher in CP and PE diets in comparison with RD diet (p <.05). The abundances of Erysipelotrichaceae incertae sedis, Eubacterium, Anaerobacter and Sarcina significantly differed in CP and PE in comparison with RD. Moreover, the genera Prevotella, Lactobacillus, Alloprevotella, Suttarella varied significantly between CP and PE diets. The observed modifications of faecal microbioma were related not only to the change from RD to CP or PE, but also to the type of pulse, chickpeas or peas. However, long-term studies are required to investigate the implications that pulses can have for gut health. Faecal quality and end products of fermentation were similar between diets. Faecal microbiota is affected by the type of pulse and raw meat inclusion. Thermally treated Chickpeas or Peas in the diet of dogs were safe, but further study are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed at investigating the rumen microbiome composition and functional activity in mid lactating cows of Italian Holstein (IH) and Italian Simmental (IS) breeds. Eight IH and eight IS pluriparous cows with days in milking (DIM) ranging from 90 to 180 were selected and rumen contents were sampled with oesophageal tube. Rumen metagenome was analysed using a whole shotgun sequencing. Data were analysed for taxonomic classification and microbial genes. The relative abundance of Archaea, the Archaea to Bacteria ratio and the Archaea to Eukarya ratio were higher (p < .05) in IS than IH cows. The comparison between IH and IS underlined differences for the abundances of Bacteria, being Bactroidaceae, Bacteroides, Prevotellaceae and Prevotella lower (p < .05) in IS than in IH cows. The IS cows showed higher abundances of Euryarchaeota (p < .05), Methanosphera (p < .01) and Methanothermobacter (p < .05) than IH cows. The annotation of sequences to KEGG revealed that 170 genes were differentially abundant between IS and IH cows and among these, 20% were involved in protein biosynthesis, 8.8% in one-carbon metabolism, as methyl coenzyme M reductase associated protein and of six isoforms of methyl coenzyme M reductase. The present results suggest a genetic link between breed and microbiome, although this interaction can be influenced by several biological factors. Considering that there are still a low number of whole genome shotgun sequencing analysis of rumen communities, these data can provide further information to scientific community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dietary intervention studies are required to deeper understand the variability of gut microbial ecosystem in healthy dogs under different feeding conditions and to improve diet formulations. The aim of the study was to investigate in dogs the influence of a raw based diet supplemented with vegetable foods on faecal microbiome in comparison with extruded food. Methods: Eight healthy adult Boxer dogs were recruited and randomly divided in two experimental blocks of 4 individuals. Dogs were regularly fed a commercial extruded diet (RD) and starting from the beginning of the trial, one group received the raw based diet (MD) and the other group continued to be fed with the RD diet (CD) for a fortnight. After 14 days, the two groups were inverted, the CD group shifted to the MD and the MD shifted to the CD, for the next 14 days. Faeces were collected at the beginning of the study (T0), after 14 days (T14) before the change of diet and at the end of experimental period (T28) for DNA extraction and analysis of metagenome by sequencing 16SrRNA V3 and V4 regions, short chain fatty acids (SCFA), lactate and faecal score. Results: A decreased proportion of Lactobacillus, Paralactobacillus (P < 0.01) and Prevotella (P < 0.05) genera was observed in the MD group while Shannon biodiversity Index significantly increased (3.31 ± 0.15) in comparison to the RD group (2.92 ± 0.31; P < 0.05). The MD diet significantly (P < 0.05) decreased the Faecal Score and increased the lactic acid concentration in the feces in comparison to the RD treatment (P < 0.01). Faecal acetate was negatively correlated with Escherichia/Shigella and Megamonas (P < 0.01), whilst butyrate was positively correlated with Blautia and Peptococcus (P < 0.05). Positive correlations were found between lactate and Megamonas (P < 0.05), Escherichia/Shigella (P < 0.01) and Lactococcus (P < 0.01). Conclusion: These results suggest that the diet composition modifies faecal microbial composition and end products of fermentation. The administration of MD diet promoted a more balanced growth of bacterial communities and a positive change in the readouts of healthy gut functions in comparison to RD diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to investigate elemental contents in commercial pet foods for adult dogs at maintenance. The elemental composition of 15 dry extruded diets (DED) and 22 moist canned diets (MCD) collected from a pet shop were analyzed in triplicate with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy and with mass spectrometry for Se. Significantly higher contents of Ca, P, (P < 0.05), K and Na (P < 0.0001) were measured in MCD than in DED, whilst the contrary was observed for Cu and Zn (P = 0.001). All the analyzed foods supplied on average micro minerals above the recommended daily requirements of FEDIAF, except for Cu (mean supply of foods 85%+12) in the MCD and Se both in DED (mean supply in foods 21%+4) and MCD (mean supply in foods 34%+7) samples. All the analyzed foods supplied macro elements above the recommended daily allowances except for K (73% + 6) in the DED and Mg (92%+5) in MCD. Principal component analysis with essential elements (EE) as input variables (Ca, P, K, Na, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Se) explained 63.85% of total variance with the first two components and clustered DED and MCD. Factor scores of Cu, Zn, Mg and Mn were higher for MCD and Ca, P, K and Na for DED. Significantly higher (P < 0.01) frequency of presence of non essential elements (NEE) Cd, Cr, Li and Pb (p < 0.01) were observed in MCD in comparison to DED. Although there are limitations in this study, the results showed a wide variability of elemental contents among per foods and suggest the need of routinely analysis to accomplish with the recommended daily allowances and for the safeguard of companion animals health. • Contents of macro and trace elements are analyzed in commercial pet foods. • Contents of elements differ in extruded and moist petfood. • Large variation of elemental contents in comparison to nutritional requirements. • Presence of non essential elements is higher in moist pet foods. • Insufficiencies in microminerals in comparison to nutritional requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing number of studies in the last decade described the microbial populations in different niches of the organism thank to High-throughput DNA sequencing techniques, that are easily accessible to researchers. Furthermore, network analysis allows characterisation of bacteria that are indirectly linked to outcomes such as disease, diet and host sex through their association with other taxa. The present work on the gut microbiome follows previous research in which data were collected from 8 in-house dietary intervention studies in healthy dogs. Animals were divided according to diet and sex. The process of sample collection, storage, DNA extraction and sequencing, bioinformatic and statistical analysis followed a tailored, internally defined pipeline. The extracted DNA was prepared for sequencing of the V3 and V4 regions of the 16 rRNA gene. Correlation network analysis was performed by calculating pairwise relationships between taxa using the Sparse Correlations for Compositional Data (SparCC) algorithm. First, we identified candidate bacteria that were highly abundant in the microbial community, and second, we examined taxa that were directly related to diet and sex factors. In summary, this study underpins the network structure of the gut microbiome of dogs categorised by diet and sex and provides a better explanation for the interactions between bacteria that led to the grouping of dogs based on environmental or genetic factors. Specifically, this study has provided the basis for understanding how the bacterial community in the gut is interconnected and functions as a function of diet composition and sex. Network analysis could allow indirect association between bacteria composing the gut microbiome and outcomes, such as disease, diet and sex of the host. This research put the basis on the definition of enterotypes also in dogs, a concept already applied in humans. Positively correlated bacteria, belonging to modules could help to modulate diets and therapies for the treatment of enteropathies or gut-related pathologies linked to a dysbiosis status of the host. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The effects of a 35-day administration of a supplement containing extracts from Silybum marianum, prebiotics, probiotics, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, minerals, and vitamins were considered in our research involving 10 overweight adult dogs. The supplement demonstrated positive impacts on ALP, glucose, direct bilirubin, and CRP, with a decrease observed during the 35-day administration period. Fecal microbiota diversity decreased just after 7 days from the beginning of supplement administration and recovered from day 14 onwards. However, there was significant individual variability in the interaction between the supplement and the microbiome. Overall, the study suggests a potential benefit of the supplement in supporting the health of overweight dogs. Overweight and obese dogs can develop metabolic dysfunction, characterized by an inflammatory response and involvement of liver functions. If a modulation of the gut microbiome and its interaction with the gut–liver axis is implicated in the development of metabolic dysfunction, exploration becomes necessary. Over the past decade, diverse therapeutic approaches have emerged to target pathogenic factors involved in metabolic dysfunction. This study investigated the impact of a supplement with hepatoprotective activity, containing extracts of Silybum marianum, prebiotics, probiotics, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals on hematological markers of liver functions and inflammation, as well as on the intestinal microbiota of 10 overweight adult dogs over a 35-day time span. Animals underwent clinical and laboratory evaluations every 7 days, both before the administration of the supplement (T0) and after 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 days (T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5). In comparison to T0, a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in ALP, glucose, direct bilirubin, and CRP was observed from T3 to T5. The alpha diversity of the fecal microbiota significantly decreased (p < 0.05) only at T1, with high variability observed between dogs. Total short-chain fatty acid and lactic acid were also lower at T1 (p < 0.05) compared to the other times of sampling. The beta diversity of the fecal microbiota failed to show a clear pattern in relation to the sampling times. These results of blood parameters in overweight dogs show a reduction of the inflammation and an improvement of metabolic status during the study period, but the effective contribution of the supplement in this clinical outcome deserves further investigation. Furthermore, the considerable individual variability observed in the microbiome hinders the confident detection of supplement effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The literature in this review paper provided a recent perspective on the gut microbiome of newborn puppies. It was generally accepted that microbial colonization of newborns begins at birth, but some studies have reported evidence that suggests a healthy uterus is not always sterile and that the fetus at term already harbors bacteria. The microbiota development can occur during fetal life and can later be shaped by the type of parturition, colostrum, milk and lactation, environment, and food interactions. The studies suggested that the type of delivery, the maternal microbiota and their metabolites, and the diet of the mother influence the microbial community of a litters' gut microbiota, which could be an important factor for the survival of newborns. The importance of the microbial composition of the mother for the development and growth of puppies deserves further study. The review described the most important factors affecting the development of the intestinal microbiota in puppies from birth to weaning. The health and well-being of the microbiome in puppies is influenced by the type of parturition, the maternal microbiota, and the diet of the mother, directly or indirectly. The isolation of bacteria in dogs from the placenta, fetal fluids, and fetuses suggests that colonization could occur before birth, although this is still a matter of debate. Accordingly, newborn puppies could harbor bacteria that could be of maternal origin and that could influence microbial colonization later in life. However, the long-term impacts on health and the clinical significance of this transfer is not yet clear and needs to be investigated. The same maternal bacteria were found in puppies that were born vaginally and in those delivered via cesarean section. Potentially, the relationship between the type of parturition and the colonization of the microbiome will influence the occurrence of diseases, since it can modulate the gut microbiome during early life. In addition, puppies' gut microbiota becomes progressively more similar to adult dogs at weaning, as a consequence of the transition from milk to solid food that works together with behavioral factors. A number of researches have investigated the effects of diet on the gut microbiota of dogs, revealing that dietary interference may affect the microbial composition and activity through the production of short-chain fatty acids and vitamins. These compounds play a fundamental role during the development of the fetus and the initial growth of the puppy. The composition of the diet fed during pregnancy to the bitches is also an important factor to consider for the health of newborns. As far as it is known, the effects of the type of parturition, the maternal microbiota, and the diet on the microbial colonization and the long-term health of the dogs deserve further studies. Definitely, longitudinal studies with a larger number of dogs will be required to assess a causal link between microbiome composition in puppies and diseases in adult dogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigated the relationship of markers of welfare and metabolism in milk, urine and blood with the genetic merit of Holstein and Simmental cows after the peak of lactation. Cows were selected from 3 Simmental (IS) and 2 Holstein (IH) commercial dairy farms. Within each farm, cows were ranked according to the estimated breeding value for milk protein yield (EBVp) from minus to positive and selected every 5 EBVps from minus to positive values (about 20% lactating cows for each farm). Milk was sampled and analysed for protein, fat, lactose, cortisol contents and somatic cell count (SCC). Blood and urines were analysed for biomarkers of metabolism and welfare. Significantly lower body condition score (BCS) was observed for IH in comparison to IS. Plasma creatinine was higher in IS, whilst Zn, total antioxidant status and glutathione peroxidase was higher in IH. The creatinine N to N ratio in urine was significantly higher for IS, while the purine derivatives (PD) N to creatinine N ratio was higher for IH. The EBVp was negatively related to BCS and glucose for IS and to plasma β-hydroxybutyrate in both breeds. EBVp was negatively related to urinary PD N to total N ratios for IS and to PD N to creatinine N ratio for IH. These preliminary results would indicate that the selection of cows for milk protein yield had minor effect on plasma and milk biomarkers of welfare. Instead, biomarkers of metabolism were more affected by breed and genetic merit [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the effect of interaction between total (SCC) and differential somatic cell count (DSCC) on milk yield, composition and coagulation traits from individual dairy cows. A total of 159 224 test‐day records (daily milk yield, composition and coagulation traits) have been collected during a period of 14 months from 12 849 Holstein‐Friesian and 9275 Simmental cows farmed in 223 herds. The interaction between somatic cell traits was highly significant for almost all the evaluated traits. This study showed that the combined use of SCC and DSCC can be employed for assessing the performances of dairy cows and for monitoring the improvement of milk quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characterization of the microbial population of many niches of the organism, as the gastrointestinal tract, is now possible thanks to the use of high-throughput DNA sequencing technique. Several studies in the companion animals field already investigated faecal microbiome in healthy or affected subjects, although the methodologies used in the different laboratories and the limited number of animals recruited in each experiment does not allow a straight comparison among published results. In the present study, we report data collected from several in house researches carried out in healthy dogs, with the aim to seek for a variability of microbial taxa in the faeces, caused by factors such as diet and sex. The database contains 340 samples from 132 dogs, collected serially during dietary intervention studies. The procedure of samples collection, storage, DNA extraction and sequencing, bioinformatic and statistical analysis followed a standardized pipeline. Microbial profiles of faecal samples have been analyzed applying dimensional reduction discriminant analysis followed by random forest analysis to the relative abundances of genera in the feces as variables. The results supported the responsiveness of microbiota at a genera taxonomic level to dietary factor and allowed to cluster dogs according this factor with high accuracy. Also sex factor clustered dogs, with castrated males and spayed females forming a separated group in comparison to intact dogs, strengthening the hypothesis of a bidirectional interaction between microbiota and endocrine status of the host. The findings of the present analysis are promising for a better comprehension of the mechanisms that regulate the connection of the microorganisms living the gastrointestinal tract with the diet and the host. This preliminary study deserves further investigation for the identification of the factors affecting faecal microbiome in dogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to investigate element concentrations in the hair of growing and adult dogs. Overall, 39 dogs were recruited in a kennel, split in 4 groups: G1, 10 puppies of small size breeds; G2, 6 puppies of medium size breed; G3, 11 adult dogs of medium size breeds; G4, 12 adult dogs of toy breeds. The dogs of each group were fed 4 different complete diets, according to the requirements. Hairs were sampled at the beginning of the study (D0) and after 60 days (D60). Elements were analysed in triplicate using ICP-OES. In the hair of the adult dogs of the G3 group the concentration of Al (p <.01) was lower and in the G2 group the concentration of Zn was higher (p <.01) than in the other groups. Cu and Mn concentrations in the hair were higher (p <.01 and p <.05, respectively) in puppies fed G1 and G2 diets in comparison to adult dogs fed G3 and G43 diets. Hair concentrations of K, Li and Na were higher at D60 in comparison with D0 (p <.01). Correlations between concentrations in the hair of Al and Fe, Al and Mg and Fe and Mg were highly significant (p <.01). Present data do not support the use of element concentrations in the hair to assess their nutritional supply but, likely, they can be used in relation to physiological status of the animals. Further studies are required to investigate the factors affecting element concentrations in the hair of dogs. Concentrations of Cu, Mn and Zn in the hair differed between growing and adult dogs; Al concentration in hair was highly correlated with Fe and Mg; Several factors other than nutritional supply regulate element deposition in the hair [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working dogs are gaining popularity for their ability to learn and perform tasks entertaining their human companions. For this reason, dogs are often subjected to various stimuli due to inter- and intra-specific interactions, environmental variations and effort required by different activities. In the present study, salivary cortisol was measured to monitor physiological response to different conditions. The first study was performed to assess the variability of salivary cortisol in dogs in usual environmental conditions. For this, salivary cortisol was measured in 10 dogs at home during three not consecutive days at three different times of the day and not significant variations between days and time of sampling were observed. In the second study, salivary cortisol was measured in dogs before and after Pointing Hunting (No. 5), Tracking for Ungulate Hunting (No. 6), Blood Tracking (No. 4), Agility Training (No. 6) and Animal Assisted Activities (AAA, No. 6). Salivary cortisol concentration significantly increased after the Pointing Hunting activity (p < .05), while salivary cortisol significantly decreased at the end of AAA session (p < .05). No significant differences in cortisol variations were observed for Tracking for Ungulate Hunting, Blood Tracking and Agility Training, before and after the activities. The response of cortisol suggests that the extent of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activation varies between short high-intensity activities and endurance exercises. The measurement of salivary cortisol can support the trainers to evaluate the animal response to the stimulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Along with the traditional traits, swine breeding programs for Italian dry-cured ham production have recently aimed to include novel phenotypes. The identification of the genomic regions underlying such new traits helps to untangle their genetic architecture and may provide useful information to be integrated in genetic selection. With this aim, we estimated genetic parameters and conducted a single step genome wide association studies (GWAS) on untrimmed and trimmed thigh weight considering two pig crossbred lines approved for Italian Protected Designation of Origin ham production. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were characterized based on the variance of 10-SNP sliding windows genomic estimated breeding values. In particular, we identified interesting QTL signals on several chromosomes, notably on chromosome 4, 6, 7 and 15. A high heritability and genetic correlation were observed for the two traits under investigation and although independent studies including other pig populations are required to disentangle the possible effects of specific linkage disequilibrium in our population, our findings suggest that such QTL could be investigated in future pig breeding programs to improve the reliability of genomic estimated breeding values for the dry-cured ham production. Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) dry-cured ham is the most important product in the Italian pig breeding industry, mainly oriented to produce heavy pig carcasses to obtain hams of the right weight and maturity. Recently, along with the traditional traits swine breeding programs have aimed to include novel carcass traits. The identification at the genome level of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) affecting such new traits helps to reveal their genetic determinism and may provide information to be integrated in prediction models in order to improve prediction accuracy as well as to identify candidate genes underlying such traits. This study aimed to estimate genetic parameters and perform a single step genome wide association studies (ssGWAS) on novel carcass traits such as untrimmed (UTW) and trimmed thigh weight (TTW) in two pig crossbred lines approved for the ham production of the Italian PDO. With this purpose, phenotypes were collected from ~1800 animals and 240 pigs were genotyped with Illumina PorcineSNP60 Beadchip. The single-step genomic BLUP procedure was used for the heritability estimation and to implement the ssGWAS. QTL were characterized based on the variance of 10-SNP sliding window genomic estimated breeding values. Moderate heritabilities were detected and QTL signals were identified on chromosome 1, 4, 6, 7, 11 and 15 for both traits. As expected, the genetic correlation among the two traits was very high (~0.99). The QTL regions encompassed a total of 249 unique candidate genes, some of which were already reported in association with growth, carcass or ham weight traits in pigs. Although independent studies are required to further verify our findings and disentangle the possible effects of specific linkage disequilibrium in our population, our results support the potential use of such new QTL information in future breeding programs to improve the reliability of genomic prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]