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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1392985

A new combination of a pre-and postbiotic mitigates immunosenescence in vaccinated healthy senior dogs

Provisionally accepted
Wendy A. Wambacq Wendy A. Wambacq 1Emmanuelle Apper Emmanuelle Apper 2Cindy Le Bourgot Cindy Le Bourgot 3*Florence Barbe Florence Barbe 2Yang Lyu Yang Lyu 1Michael P. Pelst Michael P. Pelst 4Bart Broeckx Bart Broeckx 5Bert Devriendt Bert Devriendt 4Eric Cox Eric Cox 4Myriam Hesta Myriam Hesta 1
  • 1 Equine and Companion Animal Nutrition, Department of Morphology, Imaging, Orthopedics, Rehabilitation and Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium
  • 2 Lallemand Animal Nutrition, Blagnac, France
  • 3 Tereos, Moussy-le-Vieux, France
  • 4 Laboratory of Immunology, Department of Translational Physiology, Infectiology and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium
  • 5 Department of Veterinary and Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Heidestraat, Merelbeke, Belgium

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Elderly dogs often suffer from chronic diseases, in part attributed to immunosenescence, characterized by reduced blood CD4+ T cells (helper T cells) and elevation in the CD8+ T cells subset (cytotoxic T cells). Studies conducted in adult dogs suggested that supplementing short chain fructooligosaccharides (scFOS) or postbiotics derived from yeasts may positively influence the immune response. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether dietary supplementation with a combination of scFOS with a new yeast postbiotic (Profeed ADVANCED ® called scFOS+) could have a positive influence on the immune status of senior dogs subjected to an immune challenge (Lyme disease vaccination). To this end, twenty-two healthy senior client-owned dogs were divided into two groups: one group received a placebo diet without scFOS+ and the other group the basal diet supplemented with 1.1% scFOS+. In order to assess immune function, complete blood count, serum acute phase proteins, immunoglobulins, cytokines, T-cell subsets and antibody secreting cells were analyzed. Furthermore, faecal score and pH were recorded. Dogs fed the scFOS+ supplement had decreased total serum IgA concentrations (P < 0.01), which might suggest a more local IgA response scFOS+ supplementation in senior dogs in agreement with what was previously found when adult dogs were supplemented with β-1, 3/1, 6glucan, a yeast-based product. More importantly, the present study demonstrated that feeding 1.1% scFOS+ to healthy senior dogs increased the CD4+:CD8+ T-cell (Helper:Cytotoxic T cell) ratio (P < 0.001) during and after vaccination against Lyme disease. Combining scFOS and yeast-derived postbiotics in the diet can therefore counter certain characteristics of T-cell immunosenescence in dogs.

    Keywords: scFOS, prebiotic, Postbiotic, immunosenescence, Elderly dog, Vaccine

    Received: 28 Feb 2024; Accepted: 18 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wambacq, Apper, Le Bourgot, Barbe, Lyu, Pelst, Broeckx, Devriendt, Cox and Hesta. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Cindy Le Bourgot, Tereos, Moussy-le-Vieux, France

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