CaniNectar Research

Peer-Reviewed Research: Enzyme Rich Malt Extract and the Canine Microbiome

A peer-reviewed study by Waring, Dagi and Hunter examined 10 adult dogs over eight weeks, using both faecal microbiome analysis and metabolomics to investigate changes associated with Enzyme Rich Malt Extract supplementation.

Peer reviewed CaniNectar / Enzyme Rich Malt Extract research Open access

Year

2024

Study type

Peer-reviewed prospective study

Sample

10 adult dogs

Duration

8 weeks

Measured

Faecal microbiome composition and volatile metabolite profile

The research question

The study explored whether providing additional digestive enzyme activity through Enzyme Rich Malt Extract was associated with measurable changes in the gut environment of dogs and horses.

For the canine arm, the central question was whether eight weeks of supplementation would be accompanied by changes in both:

the composition of the faecal microbiome

and

the volatile metabolites detected within faecal samples

Looking at both layers allowed the researchers to investigate not only which microorganisms were present, but also changes in the wider metabolic environment.

What did the researchers do?

Ten adult dogs received Enzyme Rich Malt Extract with their diet twice daily for eight weeks at approximately 0.7 mL per kilogram of body weight.

Faecal samples were collected before supplementation began and again at the end of the eight-week period.

Metabolomic analysis

Samples were analysed using specific ion flow tube mass spectrometry, or SIFT/MS, to measure volatile organic compounds.

These included short-chain fatty acids and compounds such as ammonia, methanol, ethanol and acetone.

Microbiome analysis

The study also used 16S analysis to identify bacterial groups within the faecal microbiome and estimate their relative abundance.

Using both techniques allowed the researchers to compare microbial composition with changes in the chemical environment.

What did they measure?

The study examined two major layers of the canine gut ecosystem.

Volatile metabolites

Researchers measured compounds detected in faecal samples before and after supplementation.

These included:

acetic acid

propionic acid

butyric acid

ammonia

methanol

ethanol

acetone

dimethyl disulphide

Microbiome composition

Researchers also examined changes in bacterial groups at several taxonomic levels, including phylum, class, family, genus and species.

This included groups such as Spirochaetes, Proteobacteria, Blautia, Faecalibacterium and Ruminococcaceae.

What was observed?

The study reported changes in both the metabolomic and microbiome datasets.

Metabolites

All 10 dogs showed a reduction in at least one of the measured compounds ammonia, methanol or ethanol.

Nine of the 10 dogs showed an increase in at least one of the compounds classified by the authors as beneficial metabolites, including acetone, acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acid.

Mean butyric acid increased from 166 ppb before supplementation to 288 ppb afterwards.

Mean propionic acid increased from 495 ppb to 816 ppb.

Mean acetic acid increased from 413 ppb to 598 ppb.

Microbiome

The authors reported increased species diversity alongside lower levels of Spirochaetes and Proteobacteria after supplementation.

Higher levels of Blautia were also reported.

Several dogs showed increases in Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Clostridium hiranonis.

These findings show measurable changes in both microbial composition and the faecal metabolic profile over the eight-week period.

What does this study tell us?

This paper is particularly useful because it does not rely on microbiome composition alone.

It combines two different kinds of evidence:

Who is there?

16S analysis was used to examine changes in bacterial groups.

What is happening in the environment?

Metabolomic analysis was used to examine changes in compounds present within faecal samples.

Together, these results support the idea that Enzyme Rich Malt Extract supplementation was associated with measurable changes in the canine gut environment over eight weeks.

The study also fits the broader Anabiomics framework described by the authors, in which digestive activity can influence the substrate reaching microbial communities and therefore the environment in which those communities operate.

It does not establish that any individual microbiome or metabolite change produces a specific clinical outcome.

What doesn't this study tell us?

The canine arm involved only 10 dogs, so the sample was small.

No parallel control group

The study compared samples before and after supplementation but did not include a separate untreated or placebo-controlled group.

Changes over time therefore cannot automatically be attributed solely to Enzyme Rich Malt Extract.

Healthy dogs

The authors describe the dogs as healthy and without reported problems.

The findings should therefore not be interpreted as evidence for treating a disease or digestive condition.

High individual variation

The metabolite results varied considerably between individual dogs.

The authors specifically noted that this variation prevented statistical significance for the canine metabolite dataset.

Faecal sampling

Faecal samples provide useful information about the lower gastrointestinal environment but do not represent every process occurring throughout the digestive tract.

Microbiome interpretation

An increase or decrease in a bacterial group does not automatically establish whether that change is beneficial or clinically meaningful.

For these reasons, the study is best interpreted as peer-reviewed evidence of measurable microbiome and metabolome changes associated with supplementation, rather than evidence of a medicinal effect.

Original research

Study details

Study

Innovative Approaches to Managing the Mammalian Microbiome: Evidence for the Role of Anabiomics

Authors

Rosemary H Waring
T. Forcht Dagi
John O Hunter

Institutions

University of Birmingham, School of Biosciences, Birmingham, UK

Mayo Alix College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, Minnesota, USA

Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, UK

Reference

Waring RH, Dagi TF, Hunter JO. Innovative Approaches to Managing the Mammalian Microbiome: Evidence for the Role of Anabiomics. Journal of Modern Agriculture and Biotechnology. 2024;3:10.

DOI: 10.53964/jmab.2024010

The study included 10 adult dogs receiving Enzyme Rich Malt Extract for eight weeks, with faecal samples collected before and after supplementation.

Samples were analysed using specific ion flow tube mass spectrometry and 16S microbiome analysis.

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