2017 ACVIM Forum Research Abstract Program

Contradictory evidence exists in human studies in regards to the effect of storage at different temperatures on the fecal microbiota. A recent study by Weese and Jalali showed limited impact of refrigeration for 14 days on the feline and canine microbiota. This concurs with the current study, which demonstrated that maintaining feline fecal samples at ambient temperature up to 96 hours (4 days) has no demonstrable effect on the bacterial membership and structure. Results from LEfSe and random forest analysis also provides supportive evidence for the lack of difference between time points. Current research suggests that the use of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy to treat clinical diseases, such as chronic enteropathy, may be optimized through donor selection and pre-conditioning strategies. We therefore investigated the effects of several pre-conditioning methods and donor sex on in vitro cytokine production of adipose-derived canine MSC (cMSC). Passage 6 cMSC were generated from cryopreserved subcutaneous adipose tissue from 6 healthy, adult, intact dogs, 3 female and 3 male. cMSC were subjected to 6 different conditions: control, poly I:C, IFNc, TGFb, serum-free media, and a mixed hypoxic environment. Supernatants from the cMSC were harvested after 1, 6, 12, 18, and 24 hours. Levels of IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TGFb, VEGF, and MCP-1 were determined by ELISA. IL-10 was below the level of detection in all samples. TGFb was measured in the wells that were treated with TGFb but was generally otherwise undetectable. IL-6 was only detected in relatively low levels in some samples from one male and one female donor. cMSC produced small to moderate amounts of IL-8 constitutively, which reached peak levels by 18 hours and was altered by pre-conditioning. cMSC produced large amounts of MCP-1 and VEGF, which were altered by pre-conditioning. Generally, the serum-free and the mixed hypoxic environment decreased production of all measured cytokines. Samples from the male donors showed significant donor variability compared to females suggesting that treatment success might be influenced by careful donor selection as well as pre-treatment conditioning, depending on the desired outcome. The purpose of this study was to compare the incidence of antibiotic-associated gastrointestinal signs (AAGS) and alterations in the fecal microbiome and metabolome of 16 healthy cats randomized to receive 150 mg clindamycin with 1 capsule placebo or synbiotic (Proviable-DC Ã’ ) once daily for 21 days with reevaluation 603 days after antibiotic discontinuation.