Page 7 - Diet And Dementia Casein Antioxidants DHEA

STUDIES
The effects of commercially available
probiotics and a prebiotic fiber blend
on the gastrointestinal microflora
of healthy dogs
STUDY OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine
if a prebiotic fiber blend containing beet
pulp and flaxseed increases concentration
of beneficial bacteria in the feces of healthy
dogs comparable to what is seen when
probiotics FortiFlora® and Prostora™ Max
are administered.
STUDY DESIGN
Twenty adult Beagle dogs (10 females, 10
males, average age: 4 years) were fed a control
food (Hill’s Science Diet® Adult Canine) for
®
4 weeks. Dogs were fed to maintain current
body weight. At the beginning of this period,
fresh feces were collected for 4 days and a
baseline composite sample was frozen for
bacterial polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
analysis. After the 4-week washout period,
dogs were randomly assigned to one of 4
groups for a 2-week period in a Latin square
crossover design. The groups consisted
of control food, control food+FortiFlora®,
control food+Prostora™ Max, and control
P=0.03
12
10
CFU log 10/g feces 8
6
4
2
0
Bifidobacterium
food+prebiotic fiber blend added to
achieve a concentration of 2.5% beet pulp
and 0.6% flaxseed on a dry matter basis
(DMB). FortiFlora® and Prostora™ Max were
administered orally at the dose and frequency
recommended by the manufacturers. Fresh
feces were collected during the last 4 days
of the 2-week period for each group, and a
composite sample was frozen for bacterial
PCR. Feces were analyzed using bacterial
PCR by the University of Illinois Animal
Science Laboratory. Results were considered
significant when P<0.05.
RESULTS
The prebiotic fiber blend group had a
significant increase in fecal Bifidobacterium
and Lactobacillus concentrations, measured
in colony-forming unit (CFU) log 10/grams
of feces, at 2 weeks compared to baseline
(P=0.03 and 0.04, respectively) (Figure 1).
Results of mean fecal Bifidobacterium and
Lactobacillus concentrations for each group
are shown in (Table 1).
CONCLUSION & CLINICAL IMPORTANCE
The tested prebiotic fiber blend of beet pulp
and flaxseed resulted in comparable amounts
of beneficial fecal bacteria concentrations
to that seen with commonly used
probiotic supplements.
P=0.04
Baseline
Figure 1. Mean fecal
Week 2
Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus
concentrations at baseline and
after 2 weeks of feeding the control
food plus prebiotic fiber blend.
Lactobacillus