Gut and skin microbiota in canine atopic dermatitis

Similar to human counterpart, canine atopic dermatitis (AD) is chronic relapsing condition; thus, most AD dogs will require life-long treatment to maintain an acceptable quality of life. One of the potential interventions is modulation of the composition of gut microbiota, and in fact, probiotic treatment has been proposed and tried in human AD patients. Since dogs are also receiving intensive medical care these days, this will be the same option for the dogs, while the evidence of the dysbiosis in the gut in canine AD is still missing, despite skin microbial profiling in canine AD has been conducted in several studies. Therefore, we first time conducted a comprehensive analysis of both gut and skin microbiota in canine AD in one specific AD-predisposed breed, Shiba Inu dogs. Additionally, we evaluated the impact of the commonly used medical management on canine AD (JAK inhibitor) on the gut and skin microbiota. Further, we genotyped the Shiba Inu dogs according to the mitochondrial DNA haplogroup and assessed its association with the composition of the gut microbiota.