Prevalence of <i>Clostridioides difficile</i> in Canine Feces and Its Association with Intestinal Dysbiosis
Melanie Werner,
Patricia Eri Ishii,
Rachel Pilla,
Jonathan A. Lidbury,
Joerg M. Steiner,
Kathrin Busch-Hahn,
Stefan Unterer,
Jan S. Suchodolski
Affiliations
Melanie Werner
Clinic for Small Animal Internal Medicine, Vetsuisse Faculty, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
Patricia Eri Ishii
Gastrointestinal Laboratory, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 4474, USA
Rachel Pilla
Gastrointestinal Laboratory, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 4474, USA
Jonathan A. Lidbury
Gastrointestinal Laboratory, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 4474, USA
Joerg M. Steiner
Gastrointestinal Laboratory, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 4474, USA
Kathrin Busch-Hahn
Clinic of Small Animal Internal Medicine, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig Maximilians University, 80539 Munich, Germany
Stefan Unterer
Clinic for Small Animal Internal Medicine, Vetsuisse Faculty, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
Jan S. Suchodolski
Gastrointestinal Laboratory, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 4474, USA
The role of Clostridioides (C.) difficile as an enteropathogen in dogs is controversial. In humans, intestinal bile acid-dysmetabolism is associated with C. difficile prevalence. The relationship between fecal qPCR-based dysbiosis index (DI) and especially the abundance of bile acid-converting Clostridium hiranonis with the presence of C. difficile in dogs was explored across the following 4 cohorts: 358 fecal samples submitted for routine diagnostic work-up, 33 dogs with chronic enteropathy, 14 dogs with acute diarrhea, and 116 healthy dogs. Dogs that tested positive for C. difficile had significantly higher DI (median, 4.4 (range from 0.4 to 8.6)) and lower C. hiranonis (median, 0.1 (range from 0.0 to 7.5) logDNA/g) than dogs that tested negative for C. difficile (median DI, −1 (range from −7.2 to 8.9); median C. hiranonis abundance, 6.2 (range from 0.1 to 7.5) logDNA/g; p C. difficile-positive and -negative dogs. In the group of clinically healthy dogs, 9/116 tested positive for C. difficile, and 6/9 of these had also an abnormal DI. In conclusion, C. difficile is strongly linked to intestinal dysbiosis and lower C. hiranonis levels in dogs, but its presence does not necessitate targeted treatment.
