Similarity of the dog and human gut microbiomes in gene content and response to diet.

BACKGROUND: Gut microbes influence their hosts in many ways, in particular by modulating the impact of diet. These effects have been studied most extensively in humans and mice. In this work, we used whole genome metagenomics to investigate the relationship between the gut metagenomes of dogs, humans, mice, and pigs. RESULTS: We present a dog gut microbiome gene catalog containing 1,247,405 genes (based on 129 metagenomes and a total of 1.9 terabasepairs of sequencing data). Based on this catalog and taxonomic abundance profiling, we show that the dog microbiome is closer to the human microbiome than the microbiome of either pigs or mice. To investigate this similarity in terms of response to dietary changes, we report on a randomized intervention with two diets (high-protein/low-carbohydrate vs. lower protein/higher carbohydrate). We show that diet has a large and reproducible effect on the dog microbiome, independent of breed or sex. Moreover, the responses were in agreement with those observed in previous human studies. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that findings in dogs may be predictive of human microbiome results. In particular, a novel finding is that overweight or obese dogs experience larger compositional shifts than lean dogs in response to a high-protein diet.

Patterns of knowing: proposing a theory for nursing leadership.

In a time of chaotic and unpredictable health care, it is vital for nursing to employ a nursing leadership theory that is specifically applicable to nurses and will holistically, and comprehensively address and support both the science and art of this honored profession. The authors propose that Nursing Leadership Knowing can address and impact the myriad issues confronting managers and administrators within the turbulent health care industry, with the ultimate goals of quality comprehensive patient care and improved employee satisfaction. They believe that Nursing Leadership Knowing, grounded in the realties of nursing experience, is a logical theoretical extension that can be translated into nursing leadership practice particular and specific focus on empirics and evidence-based practice will not attend to the robust and multidimensional underpinnings of the lived experience that is so vital to nursing as a caring profession. The ideal of nursing leadership theory is not a single-focused shadow of its history, but a rich, inclusive, multi-faceted network of knowing. As such, Nursing Leadership Knowing provides a forum for leaders to enhance their practice, as well as their relationship with their employees, which ultimately translates into optimal care for the patients we serve.