SMALL-INTESTINAL BACTERIAL OVERGROWTH AND INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASESIN DOGS - EVALUATION OF THE THERAPEUTIC EFFICACY OF SPIRAMYCINE-METRONIDAZOLE ASSOCIATION

Eleven dogs suffering from either chronic inflammatory bowel disease ( CIBD) (4 dogs), or small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) (2 dogs ), or the association of these two diseases (5 dogs), were given an as sociation of spiramycine and metronidazole (150000 UI of spiramycine a nd 25 mg of metronidazole per kg and per day during 20 days. For each dog, a clinical scoring, a biological scoring (proteinemia, serum fola te and cobalamin concentrations), endoscopic scoring was determined an d evaluated at Day zero (D0) and Day 30 (D30) (10 days after treatment ). Histological evaluations, quantitative analysis of villous areas (b y image analysis) and quantitative analysis of bacteriological load fr om duodenal juice were performed from endoscopic biopsy samples at D0 and D30. Treatment allowed a significant clinical improvement for 82% of cases (p = 0.0025). A significant increase of the average villous a rea (+ 28%, p = 0.0002 for the entire dog population) and a normalizat ion of the aerobic bacteria enumeration in the duodenum was observed i n association with clinical improvement. This study confirms the inter est of use of antibiotics during long periods in the treatment of IBD and SIBO in the dog and the efficacity of the association spiramycine- metronidazole.