Evaluation of a therapy for Idiopathic Chronic Enterocolitis in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) and linked microbial community correlates
Joshua M. Taylor,
Erik L. Clarke,
Kate Baker,
Abigail Lauder,
Dorothy Kim,
Aubrey Bailey,
Gary D. Wu,
Ronald G. Collman,
Lara Doyle-Meyers,
Kasi Russell-Lodrigue,
James Blanchard,
Frederic D. Bushman,
Rudolf Bohm
Affiliations
Joshua M. Taylor
Division of Veterinary Medicine, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, United States of America
Erik L. Clarke
Department of Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
Kate Baker
Division of Veterinary Medicine, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, United States of America
Abigail Lauder
Department of Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
Dorothy Kim
Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
Aubrey Bailey
Department of Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
Gary D. Wu
Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
Ronald G. Collman
Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
Lara Doyle-Meyers
Division of Veterinary Medicine, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, United States of America
Kasi Russell-Lodrigue
Division of Veterinary Medicine, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, United States of America
James Blanchard
Division of Veterinary Medicine, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, United States of America
Frederic D. Bushman
Department of Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
Rudolf Bohm
Division of Veterinary Medicine, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, United States of America
Idiopathic chronic enterocolitis (ICE) is one of the most commonly encountered and difficult to manage diseases of captive rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). The etiology is not well understood, but perturbations in gut microbial communities have been implicated. Here we evaluated the effects of a 14-day course of vancomycin, neomycin, and fluconazole on animals affected with ICE, comparing treated, untreated, and healthy animals. We performed microbiome analysis on duodenal and colonic mucosal samples and feces in order to probe bacterial and/or fungal taxa potentially associated with ICE. All treated animals showed a significant and long-lasting improvement in stool consistency over time when compared to untreated and healthy controls. Microbiome analysis revealed trends associating bacterial community composition with ICE, particularly lineages of the Lactobacillaceae family. Sequencing of DNA from macaque food biscuits revealed that fungal sequences recovered from stool were dominated by yeast-derived food additives; in contrast, bacteria in stool appeared to be authentic gut residents. In conclusion, while validation in larger cohorts is needed, the treatment described here was associated with significantly improved clinical signs; results suggested possible correlates of microbiome structure with disease, though no strong associations were detected between single microbes and ICE.