Webinar: Effect of Topical Medication on The Nasomaxillary Skin Fold Microbiome of French Bulldogs
Updated: May 17, 2022
A recent study was conducted using MiDOG NGS technology to assess the skin fold microbiome in healthy French bulldogs. This study found that the primary skin bacterial phyla populating the nasomaxillary skin fold were Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria, while the primary skin fungal phyla were Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. Also, the researchers noted a significant correlation between the abundance of potentially opportunistic pathogens and microbial diversity. Healthy French bulldogs contained high ratios of clinically relevant pathogens (36.4%) in their nasomaxillary skin fold microbiome.
Additionally, the study looked at how topical treatment impacts the diversity of bacterial and fungal compositions over time, which is clinically useful because it can provide an alternative to antibiotic treatment. The dermal treatments analyzed in this study looked at a protease product (Kalzyme) that inhibits biofilm formation but has no biocidal activity and a 2% chlorhexidine diacetate (Nolvasan; CHX) solution, which has broad spectrum biocidal activity against bacteria and fungi. Interestingly, diversity increased by 38% for the protease group, as opposed to 11% for the CHX group.
Since the topical therapy with protease increases microbial diversity in the skin folds and reduces the relative abundance of pathogens, this therapy could hold clinical value in the treatment of intertrigo. As one of the researchers in this study, veterinary Dr. Alissa Rexo notes how “superficial bacterial pyoderma is one of the most common dermatologic diseases in dogs. Multi-drug antibiotic resistance has further complicated this problem and made both topical therapy selection and diagnostic testing of the utmost importance.” Considering intertrigo is one of the most common forms of surface pyoderma, it is important to ask your veterinarian for more information on treatment options.
If you would like to read the full study, please follow this link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/vde.13017
Alternatively, listen to a presentation by Dr. Rexo on this study in the link below:
