An In-vitro Analysis of the Effects Of Firocoxib on the Equine Gastric Microbiome
Date
2019-05
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
There has been an increase in the use of NSAIDs in human and veterinary medicine. Horses, which are hindgut fermenters and obligate herbivores, rely on a symbiotic relationship with gut bacteria in order to digest plant matter. Changing attitudes towards the horse have led to a rise in the use of NSAIDs to relieve everyday aches and pains ensuring that all horses, from backyard pets to elite athletes. There have been deleterious side effects noted with the long term use of NSAID’s, notably the formation of gastric ulcers. Recently firocoxib has risen in popularity because it has fewer side effects than other, traditional NSAIDs. This study aimed to characterize the effects of firocoxib on the equine gastric microbiome. Gastric fluid was collected from a healthy horse and inoculated into anaerobic media and treated with three concentrations of the drug. Samples were taken over a 48 hour time-course. pH and gas production was also measured. These samples were analyzed with HPLC to track the concentrations of microbial metabolites produced throughout the time-course.16S-rRNA sequencing was used to identify changes in bacterial populations. Statistical analysis to determine the significance of the variations seen in the data included correlations between the taxa and metabolites to characterize the effects that the drug had on the bacterial populations in the gut. The results from this pilot study indicate that firocoxib has a detrimental effect on the microbiome. The addition of firocoxib to the gastric environment resulted in a decrease in the production of metabolites, changes in the growth of 43 taxa groups with a dose effect seen in 20 groups.
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Keywords
Firocoxib, Equine gastric microbiome