Precision veterinary medicine: development of a microbiota analysis platform focused on the health of pets

Abstract

Currently, it is known that a balanced intestinal ecosystem is vital for the health of pets. It is estimated that the intestines of dogs and cats contain ten times more microorganisms than the cells of the body and the healthy interaction of this microbiota results in several beneficial organic interactions. Studies by North American laboratories involving the analysis of the bacterial microbiome in dogs and cats point to a relationship between changes in the bacterial populations of healthy animals and unhealthy animals, indicating that the imbalance in the composition of the intestinal microbiota may be directly related to metabolic syndromes such as obesity and diabetes, considered one of the main chronic diseases in dogs and cats. Thus, this knowledge is essential to assist in the use of therapies and diets that aim to reestablish a healthy microbiota. However, studies aimed at verifying the correlation between the development of gastrointestinal diseases and changes in the microbiota in dogs and cats have not yet been conducted in Brazil. Studies on microbiota, nutrigenomics and gastroenterology in the field of veterinary medicine are recent. The company proposing this project is a spin-off graduated in the 2019 edition of the Founder Institute program in Brazil and has developed an animal microbiota diagnostic test based on Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) analysis. Thus, we build a minimum viable product (MVP) for the diagnosis of microbiota in pets. Thus, in this Phase 1 project we will focus on building a database of healthy and clinically diabetic Brazilian pets (dogs and cats) with a view to establishing a marketable platform that will assist the veterinarian in the diagnosis. This platform will allow for more assertive treatment and disease prevention, resulting in nutritional improvement and reduction in treatment costs, resulting in an innovative service not yet available in Brazil. (AU)