Effect of oral supplementation of probiotic strains of Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Enterococcus faecium on the composition of the faecal microbiota of foals.
Authors: Urubschurov Vladimir, Stroebel Christina, Günther Elena, Romanowski Kristin, Büsing Kirsten, Zeyner Annette
Journal: Journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition
Summary
# Editorial Summary The bacterial community of the equine foal gut undergoes significant maturation during the first two months of life, yet little research has examined how probiotic supplementation influences this critical developmental window. Researchers administered either a two-strain probiotic preparation (Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Enterococcus faecium) or placebo to 34 newborn foals daily from day 1 to day 14, then analysed faecal samples using molecular techniques (PCR-DGGE and quantitative PCR) at day 14 and day 56 to characterise changes in bacterial diversity and composition. Whilst the probiotic strains did not measurably alter the overall richness or diversity of the faecal microbiota, supplemented foals showed a key difference: their bacterial community profiles remained more similar (stable) between week 2 and week 8 of life, whereas untreated controls experienced a significant reduction in bacterial similarity during the same period. This stabilising effect suggests that even brief early probiotic intervention may support microbiotal homeostasis during a vulnerable developmental phase, though the mechanism—whether through direct colonisation or immune modulation—remains unclear and warrants further investigation with larger sample sizes and functional genomic approaches. For practitioners managing neonatal foals, these findings suggest that appropriately selected probiotics may have merit in supporting gut stability during the critical post-weaning transition, though they should complement rather than replace established colostrum and nutrition protocols.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •Two-week probiotic supplementation with L. rhamnosus and E. faecium did not dramatically alter foal microbiota composition but may help stabilise bacterial communities during early development
- •The natural progression of foal microbiota differs between supplemented and non-supplemented animals, suggesting probiotics may have a regulatory rather than transformative effect
- •Further research with larger sample sizes and longer supplementation periods is needed before recommending routine probiotic use in neonatal foal management
Key Findings
- •No DNA was obtained from meconium samples collected immediately after birth
- •No significant differences in richness or Shannon diversity index of Clostridium cluster XIVa between probiotic and placebo groups
- •Probiotic supplementation prevented the reduction in bacterial similarity observed in control foals between 2 and 8 weeks of age (p<0.01)
- •Clear age-related effect on faecal microbiota composition with bacterial similarity decreasing from day 14 to day 56 in placebo group only