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Objective: To determine if multistrain probiotics administered to asthmatic cats treated with anti-inflammatory glucocorticoids would attenuate the asthmatic phenotype and beneficially alter respiratory, blood, and oropharyngeal (OP) microbial communities and immune parameters versus placebo., Animals: 13 client-owned asthmatic cats., Methods: A randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial of asthmatic cats receiving anti-inflammatory glucocorticoids with oral multistrain probiotics or placebo assessed owner-perceived improvement and airway eosinophilia at baseline and after 2 weeks of treatment. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), blood, OP, and rectal microbial communities were compared using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Real-time PCR for transcription factors, activation markers and cytokines, and IgA ELISAs were evaluated. Statistical analyses used 2-way repeated-measures ANOVA or permutational ANOVA (significance, P < .05)., Results: After treatment, there were no significant differences in owner-perceived clinical signs or mean ± SEM BALF eosinophils between groups. There was a significant decrease in rectal α-diversity but not in α- or β-diversity in BALF, blood, or OP between groups or over time. There were no significant differences in CD25, FoxP3, GATA, Helios, IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, IL-13, IL-17, IFN-γ mRNA, or serum or BALF IgA between groups or over time., Clinical Relevance: In asthmatic cats, oral multistrain probiotics failed to improve owner-perceived signs, reduce airway eosinophilia, modify microbial community composition, or alter assessed immune responses versus placebo or over time. Longer treatment, different probiotic composition or delivery (eg, aerosolized), or larger number of cats would represent the next stages of study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to characterize the relationship of diet and management factors with the glandular gastric mucosal microbiome. We hypothesize that the gastric mucosal microbial community is influenced by diet and management factors. Our specific objective is to characterize the gastric mucosal microbiome in relation to these factors., Animals: 57 client-owned horses in the southern Louisiana region with and without equine glandular gastric disease., Procedures: Diet and management data were collected via a questionnaire. Gastroscopy was used for evaluation of equine gastric ulcer syndrome and collection of glandular mucosal pinch biopsies. 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing was used for microbiome analysis. Similarity and diversity indices and sequence read counts of individual taxa were compared between diet and management factors., Results: Differences were detected in association with offering hay, type of hay, sweet feed, turnout, and stalling. Offering hay and stalling showed differences in similarity indices, whereas hay type, sweet feed, and turnout showed differences in similarity and diversity indices. Offering hay, hay type, and sweet feed were also associated with differences in individual sequence read counts., Clinical Relevance: This study provides preliminary characterization of the complex relationship between the glandular gastric microbiome and diet/management factors. The ideal microbiome to promote a healthy glandular gastric environment remains unknown.