Evaluation of a therapy for Idiopathic Chronic Enterocolitis in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) and linked microbial community correlates

• DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4612
• Publication Date: 2018-04-11T08:18:29Z
• Authors: Joshua M. Taylor; Erik L. Clarke; Kate Baker; Abigail Lauder; Dorothy Kim; Aubrey Bailey; Gary D. Wu; Ronald G. Collman; Lara Doyle-Meyers; Kasi Russell-Lodr...; James Blanchard; Frederic D. Bushman; Rudolf Bohm
• Keywords: Enterocolitis; Rhesus macaque; Commensalism; Etiology

Idiopathic chronic enterocolitis (ICE) is one of the most commonly encountered and difficult to manage diseases captive rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta ). The etiology not well understood, but perturbations in gut microbial communities have been implicated. Here we evaluated effects a 14-day course vancomycin, neomycin, fluconazole on animals affected with ICE, comparing treated, untreated, healthy animals. We performed microbiome analysis duodenal colonic mucosal samples feces order probe bacterial and/or fungal taxa potentially associated ICE. All treated showed significant long-lasting improvement stool consistency over time when compared untreated controls. Microbiome revealed trends associating community composition particularly lineages Lactobacillaceae family. Sequencing DNA from macaque food biscuits that sequences recovered were dominated by yeast-derived additives; contrast, bacteria appeared be authentic residents. In conclusion, while validation larger cohorts needed, treatment described here was significantly improved clinical signs; results suggested possible correlates structure disease, though no strong associations detected between single microbes