Alborada Well Foal Study 2

To generate pragmatic, evidence-based interventions that will optimise foal health and future performance potential related to the role of early life gut bacterial populations.

Start date

October 2024

End date

December 2027

Overview

The Alborada Well Foal Study (Part 1) highlighted the importance of early life gut microbiome in relation to the health and performance of Thoroughbred racehorses. This follow on study aims to better understand the transmission route from mother to foal which provides the basis for the initial gut microbiome in at the beginning. Use of antibiotics in the first four weeks of a foal’s life was identified during Alborada Well Foal Study Part 1 were linked with poorer health and performance outcomes. The second part of this study aims to model the foal gut and the changes induced by antibiotic use. A number of preventative strategies will then be tested to reduce or stop the negative effects of antibiotics on the foal microbiome.

Aims and objectives

How does the microbiome of foal’s mother (or dam) effect the development of the foal’s gut microbiome in early life? This will help us better understand where the initial microbial communities in the foal’s gut originate from. Samples of faeces, milk, saliva and skin (around the udder) will be collected from Thoroughbred racehorse pre and post foaling and faecal samples will be collected from their foals until they are 60 days old. These will then undergo bacterial DNA extraction which will be analysed using 16S rRNA amplicon and shotgun metagenomics sequencing.
How can we mitigate for the detrimental effect to the gut microbiome of use of antibiotics in early life in Thoroughbred racehorse foals? The in-vitro gut model will be used to replicate the foal microbiome and perturbations caused by antibiotics. The effect of different antibiotic dosing regimens on the bacterial communities in the gut model will be observed. Subsequently, potential mitigation strategies including pre, pro and postbiotics will introduced to the gut model to with the aim to reduce the effect of antibiotics on the foal gut microbiome.

Funding amount

£400 K

Funder

The Alborada Trust

Team

Principal Investigator

Professor Christopher Proudman

Professor of Veterinary Clinical Science

Co-investigator

Professor Roberto La Ragione

Interim Pro-Vice Chancellor and Executive Dean for the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences (FHMS), Professor of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology

Biography

Roberto graduated in 1995 and then went on to study for a post graduate degree in veterinary microbiology at the Royal Veterinary College (University of London). In 1996 he moved to the government's Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) to undertake a PhD on the pathogenesis of E. coli in poultry. On completion of his PhD studies, Roberto commenced a post-doctoral position at Royal Holloway, University of London, studying E. coli virulence factors and vaccine development.

Since 2001 his work has focused largely on the analysis of the colonisation, shedding and transmission of E. coli O157:H7 by all farmed animal species and he has led a number of commercial, Defra, research council (BBSRC, MRC, EPSRC, AHRC, Innovate) and EU projects in this area. He has published extensively in the area of host-microbe interaction with a particular emphasis on E. coli and Salmonella.

His current research interests focus on the pathogenesis of food-borne pathogens with a particular interest on AMR and the development of intervention strategies including vaccination, pre and probiotics for the control of bacterial pathogens such as Salmonella, Brachyspira and E. coli in food producing animals.

In 2005, Roberto was appointed Head of Pathogenesis and Control at the AHVLA and in 2010 he was appointed Professor of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology at the University of Surrey. He gained the FRCPath in 2010 and in 2012 was appointed the Associate Dean for Veterinary Strategy in the new School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Surrey. In 2014 he was appointed to the position of Head of the Department of Pathology and Infectious Diseases and Director of the Veterinary Pathology Centre. In 2019 he was appointed Deputy Head of the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Surrey. In 2021 he was appointed Head of the School of Biosciences.

He is the past president of the Med-Vet-Net Association and the Veterinary Research Club, the current Chair of the Humanimal Trust, a Trustee of the Houghton Trust, a member of the APHA Science Advisory Board, a member of the FSA ACMSF AMR sub-committee and the Chair of the Royal College of Pathologists Veterinary Pathology SAC. Roberto is an Associate member of the European College of Veterinary Microbiology and in 2020 he was awarded Honorary Associateship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. In 2023, Roberto was awarded the RCPath College Medal.

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