ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1587149
Effects of Supplementation with Krill Oil on Blood Parameters, Hair Quality, and Fecal Microbiota in Male Beagle Dogs
Provisionally accepted
- 1chongqing sweet pet products co., ltd, Chongqing, China
- 2Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods, College of Food Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
- 3Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou, China
- 4College of Light Industry and Food Science, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
- 5College of Biological Engineering, Sichuan Water Conservancy Vocational College, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
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Krill oil (KO) is a bioactive substance with antioxidant and immunomodulatory functions. This study investigated the impact of administering snacks supplemented with 0.5% KO for 8 weeks on the blood parameters, hair quality, and fecal microbiota in dogs. KO was determined to elevate the activities of serum superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and immunoglobulin G (IgG) level. Concurrently, KO markedly diminished serum tumor necrosis factorα (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in dogs. The KO group displayed a considerably higher ratio of ideal scores and thinner hair scales for newborn hair, as well as a significant increase in total amino acid and methionine (Met) content in comparison to the control group. Furthermore, 16S rRNA sequencing revealed the changes in the composition of fecal microbiota after KO feeding. KO significantly affected the α and β diversity of canine fecal microbiota. Moreover, KO augmented the relative abundance of Bacteroidota, Actinobacteriota, and Proteobacteria at the phylum level, and it increased the relative abundance of Allobaculum, Bifidobacterium, Prevotella_9, Collinsella, and Turicibacter at the genus level. In summary, this study provides valuable insights to further understand the role of KO in promoting canine health.
Keywords: krill oil, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, Hair quality, fecal microbiota, Dogs
Received: 04 Mar 2025; Accepted: 19 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Xu, Cao, Liu, Zhang, Wang and Mao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Wencan Wang, chongqing sweet pet products co., ltd, Chongqing, China
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