Background: Multiple pathophysiological mechanisms have been reported in dogs and cats with chronic enteropathy (CE). This is reflected by altered fecal metabolites indicative of intestinal mucosal damage (e.g., cholesterol, nervonic acid, arachidonic acid), malabsorption (e.g., glucose), and loss of microbial function (e.g., bile acid conversion). Furthermore, marked dysbiosis has been linked to more severe disease in dogs, but is less defined in cats.
Objective: Characterizing fecal microbiome and metabolome in healthy cats (HC), and cats with CE, with increased dysbiosis index (DI > 0) or normal DI ( < 0). Animals: Retrospective cross-sectional study including 49 HC and 71 CE.
Methods: Fecal microbiome was assessed by DNA shotgun sequencing and qPCR-based DI. Targeted fecal metabolites (long-chain fatty acids, sterols, bile acids, and carbohydrates) were measured by mass spectrometry-based platforms.
Results: Permutational multivariate analysis of variance showed significant differences in metabolomic (median R² [95% CI]: 0.10 [0.07-0.14]), microbial (0.08 [0.05-0.13]), and functional gene (0.09 [0.05-0.15]) profiles in CE (P < 0.01), with more pronounced shifts in CE-increased DI. Fecal cholesterol, nervonic acid, and arachidonic acid were higher in CE (adjusted-P < 0.01) and correlated positively with DI (r = 0.33, 0.41, and 0.44, respectively; adjusted-P < 0.01). Increased fecal glucose and primary bile acid percentage were observed only in CE-increased DI. Conclusions and clinical importance: CE in cats is associated with multiple functional alterations, including those associated with intestinal cell structural damage, malabsorption, and disrupted microbial functions. The microbial shifts may represent responses to luminal changes and parallel the disease severity.
.png)