the role of canine gut microbiome on canine parvovirus disease

Canine parvovirus (cpv) has been considered one of the most important pathogenic viruses in dogs since it is the causative agent of acute hemorrhagic enteritis leading to severe damage of the intestinal barrier. cpv is associated with significant microbial dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota. alterations in the intestinal microbiota have been associated with various diseases in numerous species, including acute and chronic gastrointestinal diseases in dogs. one study evaluated the gut microbial in dogs naturally infected with cpv. in their study, the healthy gut microbiota of dogs was dominated by phyla firmicutes, bacteroidetes, proteobacteria, actinobacteria and fusobacteria bacteria. however, the most noticeable finding in dogs with cpv was the increase in the relative abundance of the phylum proteobacteria and a decrease in firmicutes, bacteroidetes, and actinobacteria at 6 weeks of age. the relative abundances of romboutsia, erysipelatoclostridium, anaerotruncus, and blautia were significantly increased in the infected dogs. the bacteriological examination was carried out on tissue samples of 23 dogs with cpv infection. the most isolated bacterial species belong to the gram-negative group (72%), with the highest prevalence at the species level represented by escherichia coli (19/43, 44%). klebsiella pneumoniae (4/43, 9.3%), enterobacter spp. (4/43, 9.3%), escherichia fergusonii (1/43, 2.3%), salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar schleissheim (1/43, 2.3%), proteus mirabilis (1/43, 2.3%), and pseudomonas aeruginosa (1/43, 2.3%) were also detected. among the gram-positive bacteria, equal amounts of strains belonging to the genuses enterococcus (3/43, 6.9%), staphylococcus (3/43, 6.9%), streptococcus (3/43, 6.9%), and clostridium (3/43, 6.9%) were isolated. the aim of this review was to indicate the gut microbial shifts in dogs infected with cpv. it is important to understand virus-bacterial interactions in this gastrointestinal disease. in fact, gut microbiota modulation is an effective treatment to support the dogs in the early stages of cpv.