02900: Optimizing Storage Conditions of Canine Feces for Fecal Microbiota Transplantation

Grant Status: Closed

Grant Amount: $21,883
Arnon Gal, DVM, PhD; University of Illinois
June 1, 2021 - August 31, 2023

Sponsor(s):

Breed(s): -All Dogs
Research Program Area: Gastrointestinal Disease
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One Health: Yes

Abstract

Clinical signs of acute and chronic enteropathies are common reasons for seeking veterinary care. There is increasing evidence that intestinal dysbiosis plays a major role in the pathogenesis of many of these conditions. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) of frozen human stool from donors with high fecal microbiome diversity is a safe and effective treatment to restore reduced diversity and abundance of gut microbiota of human patients with recurrent Clostridium difficile infections, and perhaps other enteropathies. FMT has also shown promise in restoring normobiosis to dysbiotic dogs. Still, lack of standardization in dogs regarding the selection, processing, and storage of feces of FMT donors, route of FMT administration, and definition of clinical indications potentially contribute to reported varying success rates. There have been no studies to determine fecal donor characteristics and storage protocols that may facilitate the selection of donor feces with optimal microbial viability, composition, and diversity. The goals of this study are to assess stability of fecal microbial viability, composition, and diversity under varying duration of time and storage conditions, and to determine donor fecal characteristics that could enhance the viability, composition, and diversity of stored donor feces. Investigators will utilize a targeted genomic approach to test the stability and optimization of feces storage, which is essential for future studies addressing the efficacy of FMT in dogs.

Publication(s)

None at this time.

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