A Comparison of the Colonic Microbiome and Volatile Organic Compound Metabolome of Anoplocephala perfoliata Infected and Non-Infected Horses: A Pilot Study

Slater, Rachael ORCID: 0000-0001-9765-6978, Frau, Alessandra, Hodgkinson, Jane ORCID: 0000-0001-9152-8481, Archer, Debra ORCID: 0000-0003-4421-9269 and Probert, Chris ORCID: 0000-0003-0477-6714 (2021) A Comparison of the Colonic Microbiome and Volatile Organic Compound Metabolome of Anoplocephala perfoliata Infected and Non-Infected Horses: A Pilot Study ANIMALS, 11 (3). pp. 1-22. ISSN 2076-2615, 2076-2615

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Abstract

Anoplocephala perfoliata is a common equine tapeworm associated with an increased risk of colic (abdominal pain) in horses. Identification of parasite and intestinal microbiota interactions have consequences for understanding the mechanisms behind parasite‐associated colic and potential new methods for parasite control. A. perfoliata was diagnosed by counting of worms in the cae-cum post‐mortem. Bacterial DNA was extracted from colonic contents and sequenced targeting of the 16S rRNA gene (V4 region). The volatile organic compound (VOC) metabolome of colonic contents was characterised using gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Bacterial diversity (alpha and beta) was similar between tapeworm infected and non‐infected controls. Some compositional differences were apparent with down‐regulation of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonging to the symbiotic families of Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae in the tapeworm‐infected group. Overall tapeworm burden accounted for 7–8% of variation in the VOC profile (permutational multivariate analysis of variance). Integration of bacterial OTUs and VOCs demonstrated moderate to strong correlations indicating the potential of VOCs as markers for bacterial OTUs in equine co-lonic contents. This study has shown potential differences in the intestinal microbiome and metab-olome of A. perfoliata infected and non‐infected horses. This pilot study did not control for extrinsic factors including diet, disease history and stage of infection.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	anoplocephala perfoliata, equine, gut microbiome, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), omics integration
Divisions:	Faculty of Health & Life Sciences Faculty of Health & Life Sciences > Inst. Systems, Molec & Integrative Biology > Inst. Systems, Molec & Integrative Biology
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	15 Mar 2021 11:45
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2026 08:07
DOI:	10.3390/ani11030755
Open Access URL:	https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11030755
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3117356
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