Selected Grantee Publications

Effect of Omeprazole on Esophageal Microbiota in Dogs Detected Using a Minimally Invasive Sampling Method

Handa et al., Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine. 2025.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11864821

Omeprazole alters the esophageal microbiome (EM) of humans and has associated effects. The changes and subsequent recovery of the EM in 3- to 6-year-old dogs after omeprazole treatment were assessed using the esophageal string test (EST). All 10 dogs tolerated the EST without adverse effects, and the EST retrieved sufficient biofluid to characterize the EM. Diversity analysis revealed no significant alterations in alpha (Observed species, Shannon and Simpson indices) and beta diversity (Bray‐Curtis) across the time points after omeprazole administration. Thus, omeprazole therapy was not observed to alter the EM of healthy dogs in this study. The application of EST in dogs illustrates its use as a minimally invasive tool for investigating the role of EM in esophageal health and disease in dogs. Supported by ORIP (K01OD030515).