Puppy fat: tackling dog obesity through the gut
Prebiotics and probiotics are gaining attention as useful tools in weight management, as research reveals their role in canine metabolic health.
As a growing focus of scientific scrutiny, the intestinal microbiome provides valuable insights into metabolic pathways and offers practical applications for health. Understanding how microbiome composition contributes to the development and persistence of obesity in dogs is driving the development of nutraceuticals to tackle excessive weight.
Obesity as a health problem
As a multifactorial disorder, obesity is highly prevalent among dogs in developed countries. In addition to genetic predisposition, the relationship between the owner and the pet contributes to its onset.
With pets increasingly regarded as family members, owners may contribute to excessive energy intake by offering treats and table scraps as a form of reward or affection. Furthermore, modern lifestyles may limit the frequency and duration or dog walks, reducing opportunities for physical activity. As a result, overweight dogs experience reduced quality of life and life expectancy, as well as an increased risk of developing other conditions, including cardiovascular disorders, osteoarthritis, diabetes, dyslipidemia, respiratory diseases and cancer.
Treatment typically involves inducing a negative energy balance through the use of a therapeutic diet combined with increased physical exercise. The main goal is to promote a gradual and sustainable reduction in body fat while preserving lean body mass and maintaining adequate nutrient intake.
Moving towards adjunctive therapies
Successful weight management in dogs can be challenging due to owner compliance and individual variability in energy requirements. As a result, adjunctive therapies, such as the development of innovative prebiotic and probiotic formulations, have gained interest as complementary strategies to support a healthier and effective weight-loss process.
The intestinal microbiome is characterized by the complex interaction between the host, the microorganisms inhabiting it and the metabolites they produce. This interplay has a substantial influence on nutrient absorption, immune responses, intestinal homeostasis, host metabolism and many other physiological processes.
In dogs, the composition of this ecosystem is influenced by several factors, including age, diet and medication use. And although there are species- specific patterns in intestinal microbiota configuration, some variations exist. Consequently, studies in both dogs and humans have shown that disruption of intestinal homeostasis and alterations in gut microbiota composition are associated with various diseases, including obesity.
It remains unclear whether intestinal dysbiosis contributes to the development of obesity or whether adiposity excess itself drives alterations in gut microbial composition. However, current evidence suggests that managing this metabolic disorder involves more than regulating energy intake and expenditure.
Prebiotics: spotlight on beta-glucan
Similar to overweight humans, obese dogs frequently exhibit altered blood glucose concentrations, insulin resistance and dyslipidemia.
Numerous studies in both humans and dogs have demonstrated the ability of dietary fibers, particularly soluble fibers and prebiotics, to reduce postprandial hyperglycemia, improve insulin sensitivity and increase the secretion of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1).
Therefore, fibers and prebiotics could be used to improve postprandial glycemic responses in overweight and obese dogs.
A study from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, published in BMC Veterinary Research in 2022, demonstrated that dietary supplementation with 0.1% beta-glucan for 90 days in obese dogs promoted important metabolic improvements, including reductions in blood glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides and basal insulin concentrations.
Additionally, supplemented dogs exhibited TNF-α (a chemical messenger produced by the immune system that triggers inflammation) concentrations similar to those of dogs at an ideal body weight and increased levels of GLP-1, a hormone associated with appetite and satiety regulation. These findings suggest beneficial effects of beta-glucan on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, as well as for appetite control.
Inulin supplementation
Beneficial effects have also been observed with supplementation of 5% inulin, a natural soluble dietary fiber and prebiotic polysaccharide, regardless of its degree of polymerization, in dogs fed a high-fat diet.
Potential effects include reductions in body weight, subcutaneous fat, triglycerides, free fatty acids and inflammatory markers such as lipopolysaccharides and IL-6. High-polymerization inulin produced more pronounced effects, reducing adipocyte size, attenuating adipose tissue inflammation and increasing gut microbial diversity.
As noted in findings published in Research in Veterinary Science in 2022 from a Chinese research team, inulin supplementation also favorably modulated the microbiota by increasing the abundance of genera associated with protection against obesity, such as Bifidobacterium and Akkermansia, while reducing bacteria linked to inflammation and metabolic endotoxemia.
These changes were accompanied by a partial reversal of the dysbiosis induced by the high-fat diet, suggesting that inulin may contribute to obesity management through modulation of the intestinal microbiota, inflammation and lipid metabolism.
In another study, published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2018, researchers from the University of Illinois used overweight female Beagles to demonstrate that inulin supplementation for 70 days promoted favorable changes in intestinal fermentation and microbiota composition, with dose-dependent effects.
The highest dose significantly increased fecal butyrate production and total short-chain fatty acid concentrations, while also increasing the abundance of potentially beneficial genera such as Eubacterium and Turicibacter. Increased bile acid excretion and a reduction in Coprobacillus were also observed.
Probiotics as part of obesity management
Research from South Korea’s Gachon University, published in 2024 in Scientific Reports and evaluating probiotics as part of canine obesity treatment, has yielded promising results. Supplementation with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (2.5 × 109 CFU/day) and Bifidobacterium breve (2.5 × 109 CFU/day) for 12 weeks, administered at a dose of 3g twice daily, resulted in weight loss in 100% of overweight and obese dogs.
In contrast, only 10% of dogs in the control group, which did not receive probiotics, lost weight. In addition, significant reductions in serum triglyceride and total cholesterol concentrations were observed.
The treatment also modulated the intestinal microbiota, increasing the abundance of Lactiplantibacillus while reducing microorganisms associated with obesity, adiposity, hepatic steatosis and metabolic dysfunction. By the end of the study, Peptacetobacter, a bacterium involved in bile acid metabolism, became predominant. This metabolic pathway is associated with improved insulin sensitivity, glycemic homeostasis and liver function.
Another study, led by a team from South Korea and published in Microbiology Spectrum in 2024, evaluating different probiotics found that in dogs fed a hypercaloric diet, supplementation with Enterococcus faecium (1010 CFU/day) or Bifidobacterium lactis (1010 CFU/day) for nine weeks significantly attenuated diet-induced weight gain.
Compared with dogs receiving only the high-fat diet (22% ether extract), supplemented dogs exhibited lower final body weight, reduced body fat accumulation and an improved lipid profile characterized by lower triglyceride concentrations, which had otherwise increased substantially in response to the hypercaloric diet.
Finally, researchers from Jilin University, Changchun, observed that Beagles fed a high-fat diet for nine weeks and supplemented with Akkermansia muciniphila (2 × 109 CFU) were protected against the increase in body condition score seen in dogs receiving only the hypercaloric diet. Published in Molecules in 2022, the study furthermore found that the probiotic significantly modulated diet-induced alterations in the intestinal microbiota, suggesting a protective effect against both weight gain and obesity-associated dysbiosis.
Time to build on promising start
Taken together, these findings suggest that prebiotic and probiotic supplementation may contribute to body weight management and improvement of the metabolic profile of obese dogs through modulation of the intestinal microbiota. However, the amount of robust and well-established evidence remains limited, representing a significant opportunity for innovation in this field.
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