Assessing commonly used commercial probiotics and their relevance to zoo animal gut microbiomes

Citation

Bornbusch SL, Thacher PR, Kendrick EL, Muletz?Wolz CR, and Maslanka M. 2023. Assessing commonly used commercial probiotics and their relevance to zoo animal gut microbiomes. In Brooks M, Fidgett A, Kendrick E, Treiber K Eds. Proceedings of the Fifteenth Conference on Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition, Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition Foundation and AZA Nutrition Advisory Group, Hybrid.

Abstract

Commercial probiotics contain live microbes that are purported to have beneficial functions such as disease prevention, anti-inflammatory effects, and microbiome stabilization. While research on probiotic use in humans is burgeoning, the study of probiotic treatment in exotic animals is extremely limited. The specific microbial strains contained in commercial, animal probiotics are selected based on research in humans, rodent models, or agricultural animals. Whether these probiotics are beneficial to zoo animals remains largely untested.

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