Authors: Cottone Ashley, Seiter Keely, Thomas Brinley, Schank Nathan, Wulf Michelle, Miller Lynda, Anderson Stacy, Munkhsaikhan Undral, Verma Ashutosh, Abidi Ammaar H, Kassan Modar
Journal: Frontiers in veterinary science
Summary
# Editorial Summary Colic accounts for substantial morbidity, mortality, and economic loss in equine practice, with mounting evidence implicating dysbiosis as a significant aetiological factor. Cottone and colleagues conducted a comprehensive review of prebiotic interventions and Akkermansia muciniphila—a mucin-degrading bacterium with documented anti-inflammatory and epithelial-protective properties in human and rodent studies—to evaluate their therapeutic potential for equine gut health and colic prevention. Whilst A. muciniphila has demonstrated marked benefits in other species through its capacity to maintain mucosal barrier function and modulate inflammatory responses, the authors found limited direct evidence of its abundance, stability, and functional significance within the equine microbiota. The review identifies critical knowledge gaps and emphasises that current mechanistic hypotheses are largely extrapolated from non-equine models, necessitating rigorously controlled, horse-based studies before prebiotic strategies targeting A. muciniphila can be confidently integrated into clinical colic prevention protocols. For practitioners, this synthesis underscores the preliminary nature of microbiome-targeted interventions and the importance of awaiting robust equine-specific research before substantially modifying feeding or probiotic strategies based on A. muciniphila-focused approaches.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •While prebiotics show theoretical promise for colic prevention through microbiome support, controlled equine studies are needed before clinical recommendations can be made
- •A. muciniphila-based therapies remain experimental in horses; do not implement as standard practice without peer-reviewed equine trial data
- •Consider prebiotic supplementation as a supportive measure for gut health, but understand current evidence is largely translational and not specific to equine populations
Key Findings
- •Prebiotics are emerging as microbiome-targeted strategies for equine health, though evidence in horses remains limited compared to human and rodent models
- •Akkermansia muciniphila shows promise for maintaining epithelial integrity and exerting anti-inflammatory effects, but its abundance and function in equine gut are poorly understood
- •Current evidence relies primarily on extrapolation from non-equine models, highlighting critical knowledge gaps requiring controlled hypothesis-driven equine studies