Whole-Genome Shotgun Metagenomic Sequencing Reveals Distinct Gut Microbiome Signatures of Obese Cats
Xiaolei Ma, Emily J. Brinker, Emily C. Graff, Wenqi Cao, Amanda L. Gross, Aime K. Johnson, Chao Zhang, Douglas R. Martin, Xu Wang
Abstract
Obesity affects around 45% of domestic cats, and licensed drugs for treating feline obesity are lacking. Physical exercise and calorie restrictions are commonly used for weight loss but with limited efficacy. Through comprehensive analyses of normal and obese cat gut bacteria flora, we identified dramatic shifts in the obese gut microbiome, including four bacterial species significantly enriched and two species depleted in the obese cats. The key bacterial community and functional capacity alterations discovered from this study will inform new weight management strategies for obese cats, such as evaluations of specific diet formulas that alter the microbiome composition, and the development of prebiotics and probiotics that promote the increase of beneficial species and the depletion of obesity-associated species. Interestingly, these bacteria identified in our study were also reported to affect the weight loss success in human patients, suggesting translational potential in human obesity.