Owning a Pet Is Associated with Changes in the Composition of Gut Microbiota and Could Influence the Risk of Metabolic Disorders in Humans

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Metabolic syndrome represents a multicomponent disorder characterized by abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension and impaired insulin sensitivity, which is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The etiology of metabolic syndrome is the result of a complex interaction between genetic, metabolic and environmental factors. However, the relationship between the risk of suffering metabolic syndrome and owning pets has not been sufficiently studied, although being in contact with pets has been considered a protective factor against cardiovascular disease. Moreover, some evidence suggests that this protection might be due to favorable changes in the intestinal microbiota. Bearing this background in mind, in this work we hypothesized that people who live with pets harbor a different microbiota to those who do not own a pet, and this fact could reduce the risk of suffering metabolic syndrome. ABSTRACT: Pet ownership positively influences clinical outcomes in cardiovascular prevention. Additionally, cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been previously linked to microbiota dysbiosis. We evaluated the influence of owning a pet and its relationship with the intestinal microbiota. We analyzed the gut microbiota from 162 coronary patients from the CORDIOPREV study (NCT00924937) according to whether they owned pets (n = 83) or not (n = 79). The pet-owner group was further divided according to whether they owned dogs only (n = 28) or not (n = 55). A 7-item pet-owners test score was used. Patients who owned pets had less risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) (OR = 0.462) and obesity (OR = 0.519) and were younger (p < 0.001) than patients who did not own pets. Additionally, patients who owned dogs had less risk of MetS (OR = 0.378) and obesity (OR = 0.418) and were younger (p < 0.001) than patients who did not own pets. A preponderance of the genera Serratia and Coprococcus was found in the group of owners, while the genera Ruminococcus, an unknown genus of Enterobacteriaceae and Anaerotruncus were preponderant in the group of non-owners. In patients who owned dogs, Methanobrevibacter and two more genera, Coprococcus and Oscillospira, were more common. Our study suggests that the prevalence of MetS and obesity in CVD patients is lower in pet owners, and that pet ownership could be a protective factor against MetS through the shaping of the gut microbiota. Thus, owning a pet could be considered as a protective factor against cardiometabolic diseases.