ABSTRACT
Shortly after birth the mammalian gut is colonized, by a transient microbiota, highly susceptible to environment and diet, that eventually stabilizes and becomes the resident gut microbiota. In a window of opportunity during the colonization, oral tolerance is established towards resident bacteria. In this study, the development of the equine gut microbiota was investigated in ten foals from parturition until post weaning. We found great differences in the core species of the gut microbiota composition between time-matched samples on Day 7 and 20 post-partum. Between day 20 and Day 50 post-partum, we saw the gut microbiota became increasingly dominated by fiber fermenting species. After Day 50, no significant changes in species abundance were observed. Gene expression analysis of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in the blood revealed no significant changes before and after weaning. In summary, relative stability of the gut microbiota was reached within 50 days post-partum and, weaning did not have a major impact on the microbial composition.
Subject(s)
Bacteria/genetics , Gastrointestinal Microbiome/genetics , Gastrointestinal Tract/microbiology , Horses/microbiology , Animals , Bacteria/classification , Bacteria/isolation & purification , Cytokines , Diet/adverse effects , Gastrointestinal Tract/growth & development , Horses/growth & development , Microbiota/genetics , Phylogeny , WeaningABSTRACT
Billions of bacteria inhabit the gastrointestinal tract. Immune-microbial cross talk is responsible for immunological homeostasis, and symbiotic microbial species induce regulatory immunity, which helps to control the inflammation levels. In this study we aimed to identify species within the equine intestinal microbiota with the potential to induce regulatory immunity. These could be future targets for preventing or treating low-grade chronic inflammation occurring as a result of intestinal microbial changes and disruption of the homeostasis. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing was performed on samples of intestinal microbial content from ileum, cecum, and colon of 24 healthy horses obtained from an abattoir. Expression of genes coding for IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, IL-17, 18 s, TNFα, TGFß, and Foxp3 in the ileum and mesenteric lymph nodes was measured by qPCR. Intestinal microbiota composition was significantly different in the cecum and colon compared to the ileum, which contains large abundances of Proteobacteria. Especially members of the Clostridiales order correlated positively with the regulatory T-cell transcription factor Foxp3 and so did the phylum Verrucomicrobia. We conclude that Clostridiales and Verrucomicrobia have the potential to induce regulatory immunity and are possible targets for intestinal microbial interventions aiming at regulatory immunity improvement.
Subject(s)
Cecum/metabolism , Clostridiales/isolation & purification , Ileum/metabolism , T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory/metabolism , Verrucomicrobia/isolation & purification , Animals , Cecum/microbiology , Clostridiales/genetics , Forkhead Transcription Factors/genetics , Forkhead Transcription Factors/metabolism , Gastrointestinal Microbiome , Horses , Ileum/microbiology , Interleukin-6/genetics , Interleukin-6/metabolism , RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/chemistry , RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics , RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/metabolism , Sequence Analysis, DNA , T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory/cytology , T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory/immunology , Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/genetics , Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism , Verrucomicrobia/geneticsABSTRACT
AIM OF STUDY: Over the last decade, the laboratory procedures in artificial reproduction have improved. Hyperstimulation causes an overload of eggs which will never be used. The present study was designed to evaluate the efficiency of a mild stimulation. To obtain oocytes for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) a short antagonist protocol using Tamoxiphene and FSH was compared to conventional IVF. METHODS: A retrospective and observatory study including all patients with unexplained infertility. In total 720 cycles with mild stimulation protocol and 8,446 cycles with regular short antagonist IVF protocol were analysed. The observation period was from January 2011 until September 2017. All patients were recruited in the same time period and allocated to different treatments upon their request. Low stimulation using orally administrated anti-estrogenic drugs combined with FSH in the form of injections was used in order to obtain up to four mature follicles. RESULTS: The clinical pregnancy rate (CPR) per embryo transfer (ET) was 25% for the mild stimulation group. The CPR for the control group with conventional IVF was 23%. CONCLUSION: Mild stimulation may be an important step towards an easier IVF approach, more tolerable for women, easier and cheaper for the women and the society, while maintaining an acceptable success rate in terms of CPR. Large prospective studies need to be performed.
