AKC Canine Health Foundation - 32

Harnessing the Power of Microbes to Fight Obesity: A First
Look at the Canine SLIM Study
Jenessa Winston, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (Small Animal Internal
Medicine)
The Ohio State University
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Jenessa Winston is an Assistant Professor at the Ohio State
University College of Veterinary Medicine. She received a
Bachelor of Science in Integrated Biology from University of
Florida in 2007. She then received her veterinary degree from
the North Carolina State University in 2011. She went on to complete a rotating small animal
internship and residency training in small animal internal medicine at NC State achieving board
certification, as a diplomate in the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, in 2015. As
a Clinical Investigator and NIH T32 fellow at NC State, Dr. Winston completed a PhD in
Comparative Biomedical Sciences with an Infectious Disease concentration in 2019. Her
dissertation focused on defining the dynamics between the gut microbiota, microbial derived
secondary bile acid ursodeoxycholic acid, and Clostridioides difficile pathogenesis.
As a clinician scientist, Dr. Winston's primary research areas of interest include microbe-host
interactions during health and disease and rational manipulation of microbial ecosystems
including interventions such as fecal microbiota transplantation. Since starting at OSU, Dr.
Winston has launched the Companion Animal Fecal Bank, which currently has several ongoing
clinical trials evaluating the use of fecal transplant in companion animal obesity and canine
parvovirus enteritis, including the AKC Canine Health Foundation funded canine SLIM study. Dr.
Winston is also a founding member of the Companion Animal Fecal Microbiota Transplantation
Consortium, a unique international group of clinicians and scientists working to accelerate
microbial therapeutics in veterinary medicine.
PRESENTATION ABSTRACT
Obesity is a growing epidemic in dogs, ultimately resulting in physical impairment, comorbidities,
and reduced quality of life and healthspan. Evidence is mounting that the intestinal microbiota
contributes to obesity, and rational manipulation of this ecosystem may confer a health benefit.
During this session, participants will learn the role the gut microbiome plays in canine obesity.
Comparative murine and human studies will be presented to provide proof of concept examples
of how the gut microbiome and obesity are intricately linked. We will also review how modulation
of the gut microbiota could help to fight obesity. Specifically, we will review the AKC CHF funded
canine SLIM Study aimed at investigating the therapeutic potential of fecal microbiota
transplantation (FMT) to facility weight loss in obese dogs. FMT is the transfer of feces from a
healthy donor into the gastrointestinal tract of a diseased recipient to confer a health benefit.
The canine SLIM Study is the first to assess the efficacy of FMT for obesity management in
dogs. Additionally, this study is the first to provide comprehensive, integrated multi-omics data
on obese dogs throughout a structured obesity management program. This study sheds light on
the role(s) that the canine intestinal ecosystem plays during treatment and recovery from an
" obesogenic " disease state. Understanding the obesity-specific key microbial community
members and their metabolic function will help to facilitate development of precision canine
microbiome-targeted therapies aimed at facilitating accelerated metabolic improvements in dogs
suffering from obesity.
2023 National Parent Club Canine Health Conference
Presented by the AKC Canine Health Foundation and Nestlé Purina PetCare

AKC Canine Health Foundation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AKC Canine Health Foundation