Multi-Kingdom Fecal Microbiota Alterations in Horses with Severe Equine Asthma

Severe equine asthma (SEA) is a chronic inflammation of airways affecting ~14-20% of adult horses in the Northern Hemisphere. SEA is characterized by a mixed phenotype of T helper cell responses with marked neutrophilia in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of affected horses. Human studies have demonstrated the impact of gut microbiota in many diseases, including asthma susceptibility and severity. However, the potential role of the gut-lung axis in the development and persistence of SEA remains to be determined. This study aimed to identify key bacterial, archaeal, and fungal microbiota alterations in the feces of horses with severe neutrophilic asthma (n = 4) compared to healthy horses (n = 8). Archaea alpha diversity was lower in the feces of SEA-affected horses, but with high abundance of archaea genus Candidatus Nitrosocosmicus, which impacts hydrogen metabolism in horses with SEA. Other key bacterial and fungi species differences lower in SEA included Blautia and Alternaria, respectively. Blautia is associated with positive metabolic health due to its fibrolytic capabilities. Overall, our findings indicate that horses experiencing severe neutrophilic asthma have an imbalance in the intestinal microbiota that may exacerbate systemic inflammatory responses through the gut-lung axis.