"Bowel on the Bench": Proof of Concept of a Three-Stage, Fermentation Model of the Equine Large Intestine

The intestinal microbiota of the horse, an animal of huge economic and social importance worldwide, is essential to the health of the animal. Understanding the intestinal ecosystem and its dynamic interaction with diet and dietary supplements currently requires the use of experimental animals, with consequent welfare and financial constraints. Here, we describe the development and assessment, using multiple analytical platforms, of a three-vessel, continuous-flow, model of the equine hindgut. After inoculation of the model with fresh horse feces, the bacterial communities established in each vessel had a taxonomic distribution similar to that of the source animal. Short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) and branched-chain fatty acid (BCFA) production within the model at steady state was consistent with the expected bacterial function, although higher concentrations of some SCFA/BCFA relative to those in the gut content were apparent. We demonstrate the intermodel repeatability and the ability of the model to capture some aspects of individual variation in bacterial community profiles. The findings of this proof-of-concept study, including recognition of the limitions of the model, support its future development as a tool for investigating the impact of disease, nutrition, dietary supplementation, and medication on the equine intestinal microbiota. The equine gut model that we have developed and describe has the potential to facilitate the exploration of how the equine gut microbiota is affected by diet, disease, and medication. It is a convenient, cost-effective, and welfare-friendly alternative to research models.