Microbiome

Question 1

What does the gut microbiome affect?

Answer 1

Gut microbiome affects a lot of things

Brain and behaviour
-Agression

digestion

Immune system

and more

Question 2

Microbiome

Answer 2

The population of all the microbes in a given area (not just the bacteria)

Question 3

Microbiota

Answer 3

The microbes that make up the microbiome

Question 4

Homeostasis

Answer 4

In harmony or balance

Question 5

Dysbiosis

Answer 5

Out of balance

Question 6

Symbiosis

Answer 6

A mutually beneficial relationship

Question 7

What do the microbes in the gut do?

Answer 7

When all is well, these are really helpful
-Provides nutrients
-Metabolites serve many functions
-Regulates immune system
-Also prevents colonization of microbial pathogens
-Influence metabolism and behavior

Question 8

Which microbes live in the gut microbiome

Answer 8

Non-pathogenic bacteria, yeast, and even some protozoa
-Animals are born with these
Different if the birth is surgical birth or early antibiotics

Composition varies due to lot of factors
-Age
-Environment
-Diet
-Geography

Question 9

Is germ free good?

Answer 9

NO
-Decreased learning ability
-Increased inflammation and auto-immunuty
-Increased fear, anxiety, depression and aggression due to the lack of metabolites

Question 10

What causes dysbiosis

Answer 10

Caused by early life factors, genetics, diet, environment, other diseases, and antibiotics

This is multifactorial and has many different outcomes

Question 11

Prebiotics

Answer 11

“Feed” the gut microbes: usually some type of solute fibre
-This is actually helpful

Fiber fermentation by microbiome increases short chain fatty acid production which in turn promotes immune system regulation, metabolic regulation, host cell proliferation

Question 12

What is “leaky gut”

Answer 12

“Leaky gut” is a breakdown between the microbiome and the intestinal cell wall

Question 13

Probiotics

Answer 13

Introduces “beneficial” bacteria into the gut

Prebiotics are better, why?
-Not much probiotics actually make it to the end product (doesn’t survive the freeze dry process

Question 14

What is the main problem with probiotics

Answer 14

Not just any bacteria can move into the microbiome and establish - COLONIZATION RESISTANCE
-Most bacteria don’t really stay in the gut and colonize
-They don’t survive longer than 10-21 days
-Probiotics need to be taken continuously
-The species and subspecies that resolves dysbiosis varies between individuals
-Some studies even show negative effects of probiotics

Question 15

How do we treat dysbiosis

Answer 15

It’s complicated
-Time
-Diet and environment (keep it hygienic)
-Control inflammation and-or autoimmunity

Question 16

Why does microbiome dysbiosis cause so much trouble?

Answer 16

Dysregulation/activation of the local immune system - inflammation
-The macrophage may identify the microbiome microbes as a pathogen and attack
-Can become chronic and systemic, or lead to auto-immunity

Direct damage to the enterocytes (lining of the intestine)

Chronic enteropathy compounds dysbiosis

Allows pathogens to colonize

Question 17

Give 3 examples

Outcomes of dysbiosis

Answer 17

Grain overload in horses
-Increased starch entering the cecum causes dysbiosis resulting in systemic inflammation - laminitis

Cecal dysbiosis in rabbits
-often causes death

Sudden changes of diet in dogs causes diarrhea due to the microbiome
-It’s good for dogs to change their diet fairly often for a diverse microbiome

Diarrheal disease in cattle

Increased susceptibility to pathogenic bacterial infection

Increased behavioural issues

Question 18

The gut brain axis

Answer 18

The gut has a huge effect on behaviour and the brain
-Metabolites and other microbes produce things that your body needs to function

Question 19

What do metabolites make that’s important

Answer 19

You are what your bacteria eat

“Metabolite produced by gut microbes contribute to Tryptophan production…a key amino acid that leads to serotonin synthesis”

Question 20

Effects of Antibiotics on the microbiome

Answer 20

Antibiotics are both a blessing and a curse

The microbiome can take months to recover from antibiotic treatment
-Early life antibiotic treatment has the most detrimental effects

Solution: only use antibiotics only if indicated by clinical signs and diagnostics
-Use prebiotics when antibiotics are prescribed
-Avoid raw food and pea protein based/grain free diets