Authors

B Wititkornkul¹; SE Girdwood¹; HJ Worgan¹; RM Morphew¹; RE Wonfor¹;  ¹ IBERS, Aberystwyth University, UK

Discussion

Horses are hindgut fermenters and microbes within the hindgut play important roles in enhancing the fermentation processes providing nutrients and energy to the host, as well as maintaining intestinal homeostasis. However, dysbiosis of the equine hindgut microbiota is common and can be influenced by a variety of factors, often associated with metabolic diseases and disorders. The equine tapeworm, Anoplocephala perfoliata, infects horses worldwide and are found primarily attached to the caecal wall, adjacent to the ileocaecal valve. Both A. perfoliata and praziquantel (PZQ), a commonly used anthelmintic for A. perfoliata treatment and control, represent a substantial threat to the fragile equine microbiome. Recent molecular work generating the first A. perfoliata transcriptome and characterising the proteome of the secretome has supported our understanding of the host-parasite interaction. However, the interaction between the infection and the exposure of PZQ on the equine gut microbiome has so far been neglected. The current work therefore aimed to initially determine the effect of PZQ on hindgut fermentation kinetics using an in vitro hindgut fermentation model. We investigated the gas production over a 72 hours fermentation period as well as, pH, volatile fatty acids (VFAs), ammonia and lactate concentrations and the metabolome after 24 hours incubation following exposure to PZQ at various dosage levels. Our findings demonstrate that at 24 hours post incubation, a high dose of PZQ leads to a trend in decrease of the production of total VFAs and specifically acetate levels (p<0.1). In addition, at 72 hours post incubation, the high dose of PZQ significantly increased the ammonia concentration (p<0.05). However, there was no effect on the metabolome fingerprint. Following this first investigation into the impact of PZQ on the equine hindgut microbiome fermentation, we suggest that PZQ treatment may alter the fermentation pathways in the equine hindgut, which could impact on the nutritional functioning of the caecum. To further characterise PZQ impact, collected microbial samples are undergoing both meta-proteomic and meta-taxonomy analysis for a complete assessment of PZQ induced alterations. KEYWORDS:Anoplocephala perfoliata, Praziquantel, Faecal Microbiome, In Vitro Hindgut Fermentation, Interaction