Calf Diarrhea Is Associated With a Shift From Obligated to Facultative Anaerobes and Expansion of Lactate-Producing Bacteria

Diarrhea is the leading cause of morbidity, mortality and antimicrobial drug use in calves during the first month of age. Alteration in the bacterial communities of the gastrointestinal tract occurs during diarrhea. Diarrheic calves often develop anion gap (AG) acidosis associated with increased concentrations of unmeasured anions including D- and L-lactate. However, studies investigating the association between gut microbiota alterations and the development of acid-base disorders in diarrheic calves are lacking. We investigated the fecal bacterial alterations of calves with diarrhea and its association with changes in blood pH, and AG. Blood and fecal samples from healthy and diarrheic veal calves were taken 7 days after arrival to the farm. The fecal microbiota of healthy and diarrheic calves was assessed by sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicons. Blood gas analysis was completed using an i-Stat analyzer. In healthy calves, higher richness, evenness, and diversity were observed compared to diarrheic calves. Phocaeicola, Bacteroides, Prevotella, Faecalibacterium, Butyricicoccus, Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae were enriched in healthy compared with diarrheic calves. Enterococcus, Ligilactobacillus, Lactobacilus, Gallibacterium Streptococcus, and Escherichia/Shigella were enriched in diarrheic calves. In diarrheic calves, an increased abundance of lactate-producing bacteria including Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Veillonella, Ligilactobacillus and Olsenella was detected. Diarrheic calves had a lower pH and bicarbonate concentration and a higher AG concentration than healthy calves. Together, these results indicate that calf diarrhea is associated with a shift from obligated to facultative anaerobes and expansion of lactate-producing bacteria which are related to acidemia, low bicarbonate and increase AG. Our results highlight the importance of the gastrointestinal microbiota on the clinicopathological changes observed in diarrheic calves.