2016 ACVIM Forum Research Abstract Program

Inclusion criteria for dogs with EPI were: a serum cTLI concentration ≤ 2.5 µg/L, age ≥ 1 year, clinical signs of EPI, and no other concurrent disease. Healthy dogs had no clinical signs of gastrointestinal disease. Fecal samples were obtained for three consecutive days, pooled, and DNA was extracted using the Power-SoilÒDNA Isolation Kit (MoBio Laboratories) for analysis of lactic acid producing bacteria by quantitative PCR. Fecal samples were deproteinized and fecal D-and L-lactate were measured by enzymatic methods (R-Biopharm, D-/L-lactic acid kit). A Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn's post-test was used to compare lactate concentrations and bacterial abundances between groups. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. D-lactate was significantly increased in both the treated (median . Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium were significantly increased in both treated (P = 0.0007and P = 0.0019, respectively) and untreated dogs (P = 0.0120 and P = 0.0076, respectively) with EPI when compared to healthy controls.