Characterization of the oral and faecal microbiota associated with atopic dermatitis in dogs selected from a purebred Shiba Inu colony

Abstract

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic and relapsing multifactorial inflammatory skin disease that also affects dogs. The oral and gut microbiota are associated with many disorders, including allergy. Few studies have addressed the oral and gut microbiota in dogs, although the skin microbiota has been studied relatively well in these animals. Here, we studied the AD-associated oral and gut microbiota in 16 healthy and 9 AD dogs from a purebred Shiba Inu colony. We found that the diversity of the oral microbiota was significantly different among the dogs, whereas no significant difference was observed in the gut microbiota. Moreover, a differential abundance analysis detected the Family_XIII_AD3011_group (Anaerovoracaceae) in the gut microbiota of AD dogs; however, no bacterial taxa were detected in the oral microbiota. Third, the comparison of the microbial co-occurrence patterns between AD and healthy dogs identified differential networks in which the bacteria in the oral microbiota that were most strongly associated with AD were related to human periodontitis, whereas those in the gut microbiota were related to dysbiosis and gut inflammation. These results suggest that AD can alter the oral and gut microbiota in dogs.