Faecal microbiota and serum metabolome association with equine metabolic syndrome in connemara ponies
Abstract Background Faecal microbiome and serum metabolome have been studied in human medicine to provide a better understanding of metabolic derangements including diabetes; however, equivalent studies in equine medicine are limited. This was a case–control study conducted to identify differences i...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | BMC Veterinary Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-025-04853-2 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849769148029075456 |
|---|---|
| author | Ahmed Saleh Al-Ansari Vivienne Duggan Grace Mulcahy Xiaofei Yin Lorraine Brennan Paul D. Cotter Shriram H. Patel Ciara M. O’Donovan Fiona Crispie Nicola Walshe |
| author_facet | Ahmed Saleh Al-Ansari Vivienne Duggan Grace Mulcahy Xiaofei Yin Lorraine Brennan Paul D. Cotter Shriram H. Patel Ciara M. O’Donovan Fiona Crispie Nicola Walshe |
| author_sort | Ahmed Saleh Al-Ansari |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Faecal microbiome and serum metabolome have been studied in human medicine to provide a better understanding of metabolic derangements including diabetes; however, equivalent studies in equine medicine are limited. This was a case–control study conducted to identify differences in faecal microbiota composition and concurrent serum metabolite patterns between metabolically normal Connemara ponies and those with Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS). Thirty privately owned Connemara ponies (15 EMS and 15 controls) were included in the study. EMS was diagnosed by oral sugar test (OST). Blood samples were collected before and after an oral sugar challenge. One concurrent faecal sample was collected from each pony. Sequencing of the V3-V4 region of 16S rRNA gene was used to identify the microbial communities in faecal samples and assess the differences in microbial profiles between groups. Serum metabolites were analyzed using liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC–MS). Finally, multi-omics analysis was conducted by integration of microbiota-metabolome datasets to determine potential associations between metabolites and microbiota in EMS. Results The faecal microbiota community composition was significantly different between EMS and control groups (p = 0.04 and r 2 = 4.3%). EMS ponies showed reduced species richness and evenness compared to normal ponies, however it did not reach significant difference. The EMS ponies showed an enrichment of serum metabolites belonging to triglycerides (TGs), along with a reduction of other metabolite classes. Integrative multi-omics analysis revealed two modules in the metabolome and microbiota datasets that were significantly different between the EMS and control groups (p < 0.05). Conclusions This study suggests that concurrent faecal microbiota and serum metabolome features significantly differ between Connemara ponies with and without EMS. These results provide insights that may assist in the search for diagnostic markers associated with microbiota changes and novel preventative management methods to manipulate microbiota in horses with EMS. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-43f31af0132c42d7b4dbfd0eebc7a485 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1746-6148 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Veterinary Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-43f31af0132c42d7b4dbfd0eebc7a4852025-08-20T03:03:33ZengBMCBMC Veterinary Research1746-61482025-07-0121111510.1186/s12917-025-04853-2Faecal microbiota and serum metabolome association with equine metabolic syndrome in connemara poniesAhmed Saleh Al-Ansari0Vivienne Duggan1Grace Mulcahy2Xiaofei Yin3Lorraine Brennan4Paul D. Cotter5Shriram H. Patel6Ciara M. O’Donovan7Fiona Crispie8Nicola Walshe9College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, Sultan Qaboos UniversitySchool of Veterinary Medicine, University College DublinSchool of Veterinary Medicine, University College DublinConway Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular ResearchConway Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular ResearchSeqBiome LtdSeqBiome LtdSeqBiome LtdTeagasc Food Research CentreSchool of Veterinary Medicine, University College DublinAbstract Background Faecal microbiome and serum metabolome have been studied in human medicine to provide a better understanding of metabolic derangements including diabetes; however, equivalent studies in equine medicine are limited. This was a case–control study conducted to identify differences in faecal microbiota composition and concurrent serum metabolite patterns between metabolically normal Connemara ponies and those with Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS). Thirty privately owned Connemara ponies (15 EMS and 15 controls) were included in the study. EMS was diagnosed by oral sugar test (OST). Blood samples were collected before and after an oral sugar challenge. One concurrent faecal sample was collected from each pony. Sequencing of the V3-V4 region of 16S rRNA gene was used to identify the microbial communities in faecal samples and assess the differences in microbial profiles between groups. Serum metabolites were analyzed using liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC–MS). Finally, multi-omics analysis was conducted by integration of microbiota-metabolome datasets to determine potential associations between metabolites and microbiota in EMS. Results The faecal microbiota community composition was significantly different between EMS and control groups (p = 0.04 and r 2 = 4.3%). EMS ponies showed reduced species richness and evenness compared to normal ponies, however it did not reach significant difference. The EMS ponies showed an enrichment of serum metabolites belonging to triglycerides (TGs), along with a reduction of other metabolite classes. Integrative multi-omics analysis revealed two modules in the metabolome and microbiota datasets that were significantly different between the EMS and control groups (p < 0.05). Conclusions This study suggests that concurrent faecal microbiota and serum metabolome features significantly differ between Connemara ponies with and without EMS. These results provide insights that may assist in the search for diagnostic markers associated with microbiota changes and novel preventative management methods to manipulate microbiota in horses with EMS.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-025-04853-2Connemara ponyEMSSerum metabolomeFaecal microbiotaMulti-omics |
| spellingShingle | Ahmed Saleh Al-Ansari Vivienne Duggan Grace Mulcahy Xiaofei Yin Lorraine Brennan Paul D. Cotter Shriram H. Patel Ciara M. O’Donovan Fiona Crispie Nicola Walshe Faecal microbiota and serum metabolome association with equine metabolic syndrome in connemara ponies BMC Veterinary Research Connemara pony EMS Serum metabolome Faecal microbiota Multi-omics |
| title | Faecal microbiota and serum metabolome association with equine metabolic syndrome in connemara ponies |
| title_full | Faecal microbiota and serum metabolome association with equine metabolic syndrome in connemara ponies |
| title_fullStr | Faecal microbiota and serum metabolome association with equine metabolic syndrome in connemara ponies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Faecal microbiota and serum metabolome association with equine metabolic syndrome in connemara ponies |
| title_short | Faecal microbiota and serum metabolome association with equine metabolic syndrome in connemara ponies |
| title_sort | faecal microbiota and serum metabolome association with equine metabolic syndrome in connemara ponies |
| topic | Connemara pony EMS Serum metabolome Faecal microbiota Multi-omics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-025-04853-2 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ahmedsalehalansari faecalmicrobiotaandserummetabolomeassociationwithequinemetabolicsyndromeinconnemaraponies AT vivienneduggan faecalmicrobiotaandserummetabolomeassociationwithequinemetabolicsyndromeinconnemaraponies AT gracemulcahy faecalmicrobiotaandserummetabolomeassociationwithequinemetabolicsyndromeinconnemaraponies AT xiaofeiyin faecalmicrobiotaandserummetabolomeassociationwithequinemetabolicsyndromeinconnemaraponies AT lorrainebrennan faecalmicrobiotaandserummetabolomeassociationwithequinemetabolicsyndromeinconnemaraponies AT pauldcotter faecalmicrobiotaandserummetabolomeassociationwithequinemetabolicsyndromeinconnemaraponies AT shriramhpatel faecalmicrobiotaandserummetabolomeassociationwithequinemetabolicsyndromeinconnemaraponies AT ciaramodonovan faecalmicrobiotaandserummetabolomeassociationwithequinemetabolicsyndromeinconnemaraponies AT fionacrispie faecalmicrobiotaandserummetabolomeassociationwithequinemetabolicsyndromeinconnemaraponies AT nicolawalshe faecalmicrobiotaandserummetabolomeassociationwithequinemetabolicsyndromeinconnemaraponies |