Continuation of an FHL discussion:

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/message/17383

Yes, but in the note that you sent to me you mentioned something I'd
missed learning about: the useful bacterial products in the blood and
their sheer volume.

Microbiomes work is showing the ways many bacteria help mammals (even
some bacteria which are pathogenic under other circumstances including
Helicobacter in humans so perhaps also Helicobacter in ferrets).

This is a newly emerging medical field, and for some it might seem
counterintuitive until they think about it enough (just like the work
in oncological nutrition showing that some malignancies can be better
tackled by limiting certain nutrients that are specific to the
individual type of malignancy and the human cell types from which it
was derived). There are multiple new medical fields which are improving
medical approaches by leaps and bounds. Another is Evolutionary
Medicine which looks at how things got to be like they are and can not
only point to origins of why structures are as they are, therefore
leading to problems like retained testicles, hernias, lower back pain,
carpel tunnel, etc. but also can therefore help find solutions. (There
are also a lot of advances recently in established fields like
endocrinology and orthopedic surgery which can take advantage of
advances not only in medical and biological knowledge but also in
technology.)

Anyway, microbiome work is turning out to be hot enough that a search
on PubMed will bring up something like 2,000 articles (much in humans
and rodents):

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=microbiome

The only one involving ferrets -- and a wide range of other animals --
is a microbiology study of animal bite infections that looks in part at
the oral microbiomes of the biters:

http://cmr.asm.org/content/24/2/231.long

but the useful part in the future can be knowing what the healthy oral
microbiome of ferrets looks like as opposed to the unhealthy for their
own oral health.

Some very recent articles come up for cats and dogs which is intriguing
here -- since they might lead to asking the right questions for ferret
health -- because knowing more about the GI microbiomes of animals who
are obligate carnivores (Meaning that meats/organs/skin. etc are
strongly needed, not that they are the sole nutrition source.) and
animals which lack appendixes (which I think may apply to cats or dogs
or both just as it does to ferrets?) may lead to better approaches for
ferret health as well, including IBD and obesity control. The way that
a number of the delicate bacteria normally in the guts can be found --
since they don't survive to be found by use of scopes -- is modern DNA
sequencing. (Do notice that microbiomes also reflect what has been
eaten and with what species the animals live.) so it actually would
have been technologically impossible to do much of this work until
very recently:

BEGIN QUOTES:

J Microbiol Methods. 2012 Mar;88(3):369-76. Epub 2012 Jan 12.
Gene-centric metagenomics analysis of feline intestinal microbiomeusing
454 junior pyrosequencing.

Tun HM, Brar MS, Khin N, Jun L, Hui RK, Dowd SE, Leung FC.

Source
School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.

Abstract
The feline gastrointestinal microbiota have direct influence on feline
health and also human health as a reservoir for potential zoonotic
pathogens and antibiotic resistant bacterial strains. In order to
describe the feline gastrointestinal microbial diversity, fecal samples
from cats have been characterized using both culture-dependent and
culture-independent methods. However, data correlating total microbial
composition and their functions are lacking. Present descriptive study
evaluated both phylogenetic and metabolic diversity of the feline
intestinal microbiota using GS Junior titanium shotgun pyrosequencing.
A total of 152,494 pyrosequencing reads (5405 assembled contigs) were
generated and classified into both phylogenetic and metabolic profiles
of the feline intestinal microbiota. The Bacteroides/Chlorobi group
was the most predominant bacterial phylum comprising ~68% of total
classified diversity, followed by Firmicutes (~13%) and Proteobacteria
(~6%) respectively. Archaea, fungi and viruses made up the minor
communities in the overall microbial diversity. Interestingly, this
study also identified a range of potential enteric zoonotic pathogens
(0.02-1.25%) and genes involved in antimicrobial resistance (0.02-0.7%)
in feline fecal materials. Based on clustering among nine
gastrointestinal metagenomes from five different monogastric hosts
(dog, human, mice, cat and chicken), the cat metagenome clustered
closely together with chicken in both phylogenetic and metabolic level
(>80%). Future studies are required to provide deeper understandings on
both intrinsic and extrinsic effects such as impact of age, genetics
and dietary interventions on the composition of the feline
gastrointestinal microbiome.
Copyright (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PMID: 22265636 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


J Anim Sci. 2011 May;89(5):1520-30. Epub 2010 Nov 12.
Companion animals symposium: microbes and gastrointestinal health of
dogs and cats.

Suchodolski JS.

Source
Gastrointestinal Laboratory, Department of Small Animal Clinical
Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences,
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-4474, USA.

Abstract
Recent molecular studies have revealed complex bacterial, fungal,
archaeal, and viral communities in the gastrointestinal tract of
dogs and cats. More than 10 bacterial phyla have been identified,
with Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Fusobacteria, and
Actinobacteria constituting more than 99% of all gut microbiota.
Microbes act as a defending barrier against invading pathogens, aid
in digestion, provide nutritional support for enterocytes, and play a
crucial role in the development of the immune system. Of significance
for gastrointestinal health is their ability to ferment dietary
substrates into short-chain fatty acids, predominantly to acetate,
propionate, and butyrate. However, microbes can have also a detrimental
effect on host health. Specific pathogens (e.g., Salmonella,
Campylobacter jejuni, and enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringens)
have been implicated in acute and chronic gastrointestinal disease.
Compositional changes in the small intestinal microbiota, potentially
leading to changes in intestinal permeability and digestive function,
have been suggested in canine small intestinal dysbiosis or
antibiotic-responsive diarrhea. There is mounting evidence that
microbes play an important role in the pathogenesis of canine and
feline inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Current theories for the
development of IBD favor a combination of environmental factors, the
intestinal microbiota, and a genetic susceptibility of the host. Recent
studies have revealed a genetic susceptibility for defective bacterial
clearance in Boxer dogs with granulomatous colitis. Differential
expression of pathogen recognition receptors (i.e., Toll-like
receptors) were identified in dogs with chronic enteropathies.
Similarly to humans, a microbial dysbiosis has been identified in
feline and canine IBD. Commonly observed microbial changes are
increased Proteobacteria (i.e., Escherichia coli) with concurrent
decreases in Firmicutes, especially a reduced diversity in Clostridium
clusters XIVa and IV (i.e., Lachnospiraceae, Ruminococcaceae,
Faecalibacterium spp.). This would indicate that these bacterial
groups, important short-chain fatty acid producers, may play an
important role in promoting intestinal health.
PMID: 21075970 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Free full text


http://jas.fass.org/content/89/5/1520.long

J Anim Sci. 2011 May;89(5):1498-505. Epub 2010 Oct 29.
Companion animals symposium: role of microbes in canine and feline
health.

Kil DY, Swanson KS.
Source
Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL
61801, USA.

Abstract
Whether in an ocean reef, a landfill, or a gastrointestinal tract
(GIT), invisible communities of highly active and adaptable microbes
prosper. Over time, mammals have developed a symbiosis with microbes
that are important inhabitants not only in the GIT, but also in the
mouth, skin, and urogenital tract. In the GIT, the number of commensal
microbes exceeds the total number of host cells by at least 10 times.
The GIT microbes play a critical role in nutritional, developmental,
defensive, and physiologic processes in the host. Recent evidence also
suggests a role of GIT microbes in metabolic phenotype and disease risk
(e.g., obesity, metabolic syndrome) of the host. Proper balance is a
key to maintaining GIT health. Balanced microbial colonization is also
important for other body regions such as the oral cavity, the region
with the greatest prevalence of disease in dogs and cats. A significant
obstruction to studying microbial populations has been the lack of
tools to identify and quantify microbial communities accurately and
efficiently. Most of the current knowledge of microbial populations
has been established by traditional cultivation methods that are not
only laborious, time-consuming, and often inaccurate, but also greatly
limited in scope. However, recent advances in molecular-based
techniques have resulted in a dramatic improvement in studying
microbial communities. These DNA-based high-throughput technologies
have enabled us to more clearly characterize the identity and metabolic
activity of microbes living in the host and their association with
health and diseases. Despite this recent progress, however, published
data pertaining to microbial communities of dogs and cats are still
lacking in comparison with data in humans and other animals. More
research is required to provide a more detailed description of the
canine and feline microbiomeand its role in health and disease.
PMID: 21036940 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Free full text

http://jas.fass.org/content/89/5/1498.long

END QUOTES

People here can use this resource:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed

The reason that not having an appendix can backfire is that in those
species with an appendix the normal intestinal flora sequester there,
so when there are die-offs from illness the population in the appendix
can gradually repopulate the rest of the intestine.

Much of intestinal health in any species is having the right bacteria
present in the right proportion. (And that MIGHT apply also to some
non-bacterial microflora.) They have to be the right species and
subspecies of bacteria, too -- just speaking as someone who has been
reading a lot and who had three months of diarrhea when in college
decades ago due to picking up a chimp version of E. coli from some
chimps with whom I worked closely for about 4 years which warred with
the normal human version, leading to population explosions and crashes
till the human version finally won.

BTW, the gut is not the only place where there are symbiotic
microflora. The mouth has them, the skin has them, the vagina has them,
etc. (repeat: etc.). (In fact, if one common genus in the mammalian
vagina (beta hemolytic strep) goes into the urethra bladder bleeding
can result.)

Sukie (not a vet) Ferrets make the world a game.

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html

"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)
On change for its own sake: "You can go really fast if you just jump
off the cliff." (2010, Steve Crandall)

[Posted in FML 7467]