2015 ACVIM Forum Research Abstract Program

This study demonstrated that oral prednisolone administration to dogs with naturally occurring immune-mediated disease could cause various degrees of increase in SPEC concentration. Therefore, abnormal SPEC concentrations in dogs receiving prolonged oral prednisolone should be interpreted cautiously. Concurrent administration of azathioprine did not increase the SPEC concentrations more than the increase observed in administration of prednisolone alone. Probiotic administration is often recommended for patients with gastrointestinal (GI) disease with the goal to balance microbial populations in the intestinal tract. Despite this aim, the actual impact of probiotic formulations on intestinal microbiota has not been elucidated. Various studies that have evaluated probiotic formulations containing doses ranging from 5x10 8 to 10x10 10 colony forming units (cfu) have demonstrated only minor and transient changes in a few bacterial groups during the supplementation period. SIVOY TM is a high dose probiotic cocktail containing a mix of 9 strains of Lactobacillus spp., Bifidobaterium spp., and Streptococcus spp. for a total of 200 billion cfu (2x10 11 ) and has shown anti-inflammatory properties in vivo in previous studies in animal models. However, its impact on the fecal microbiome is currently unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to characterize the fecal microbiome in healthy dogs after having been administered the probiotic SIVOY.