The fecal microbiota of healthy donor horses and geriatric recipients undergoing fecal microbial transplantation for the treatment of diarrhea.
Authors: McKinney Caroline A, Oliveira Bruno C M, Bedenice Daniela, Paradis Mary-Rose, Mazan Melissa, Sage Sophie, Sanchez Alfredo, Widmer Giovanni
Journal: PloS one
Summary
# Editorial Summary Faecal microbial transplantation (FMT) is increasingly used clinically in horses with colitis and dysbiosis-related diarrhoea, yet the microbiological basis for its efficacy remains poorly characterised. McKinney and colleagues employed high-throughput sequencing to characterise the faecal microbiota of healthy donor horses and compare it with that of geriatric recipients suffering diarrhoea, evaluating whether FMT could restore microbial diversity to pre-disease levels. The study revealed distinct differences between healthy and diarrhoeic horses, with recipients showing significantly reduced microbial diversity and altered community composition; following FMT, diversity metrics improved substantially, though the transplanted microbiota did not completely replicate the healthy donor profile. These findings provide molecular evidence that FMT works partly through restoration of microbial richness and diversity rather than simply introducing specific beneficial organisms, suggesting that donor selection (using genuinely healthy horses with robust microbial communities) and post-treatment management are critical to optimising outcomes. For practitioners, this work validates FMT as a microbiologically sound intervention for dysbiosis-associated diarrhoea in geriatric horses, whilst highlighting that individual variation in recipient response and incomplete microbiota reconstitution may explain the variable clinical success rates observed in practice.
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Practical Takeaways
- •FMT represents an emerging treatment option for geriatric horses with diarrhea, particularly when dysbiosis is suspected, though evidence base is still developing
- •Microbiota profiling can help identify dysbiosis and monitor treatment response, potentially improving outcomes in chronic colitis cases
- •Healthy donor horses can be screened and used as FMT sources, but careful donor selection and microbiota analysis should guide clinical application
Key Findings
- •Fecal microbial transplantation was empirically used to treat diarrhea in geriatric horses with suspected dysbiosis
- •Study compared fecal microbiota profiles between healthy donor horses and diarrheal geriatric recipients using high-throughput sequencing
- •FMT treatment was assessed for its ability to restore microbiota diversity in affected horses