{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,8]],"date-time":"2026-07-08T02:44:34Z","timestamp":1783478674448,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":98,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"13","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,28]],"date-time":"2025-06-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1751068800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Lambey SAS","award":["2625299"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2625299"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000268","name":"Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Doctoral Training Partnership","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2625299"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2625299"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000268","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Equine gastric disease (EGD) is a common condition in performance horses (Equus caballus), potentially compromising behaviour, performance, and welfare. EGD is often attributed to high-starch, high-sugar feeds and limited forage. Evidence for diet-induced changes on digestive microbiota is lacking. Nine elite showjumping horses were housed at the same performance yard with standardised diet and management throughout the study. Horses were transitioned from a high-sugar and -starch (31%) feed to a low-starch and -sugar (16.5%) concentrate feed. Gastroscopies, blood, and faecal samples were taken pre- and 12 weeks post-diet change. Squamous and glandular ulceration was blindly graded a posteriori using 0\u20134 scores and faecal microbiota profiled using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Total (t(1,8) = \u22126.17, p &lt; 0.001; Pre: 4 [0\u20135], Post: 1 [0\u20132]), squamous (t(1,8) = \u22125.32, p &lt; 0.001; Pre: 1 [0\u20133], Post: 0 [0\u20131]), and glandular (t(1,8) = \u22122.53, p = 0.04; Pre: 2.5 [0\u20134], Post: 0 [0\u20132]) disease improved following the introduction of a low-starch diet. Diet change did not impact microbiota communities (PERMANOVA: F(1,16) = 1.37, p = 0.15, r2 = 0.08), but Firmicute to Bacteroidota (F\/B) ratio reduced (t(1,8) = \u22123.13, p = 0.01; Pre: 2.07 \u00b1 0.21 vs. Post: 1.29 \u00b1 0.14). Lower F\/B ratios were associated with reduced total EGD scores (ChiSq(1,17) = 3.83, p = 0.05). Low-starch diets did not influence faecal microbiota diversity but aided gastric disease healing and reduced F\/B ratios in elite showjumpers during a competition season without medication.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani15131908","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,30]],"date-time":"2025-06-30T05:00:37Z","timestamp":1751259637000},"page":"1908","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Impact of Low-Starch Dietary Modifications on Faecal Microbiota Composition and Gastric Disease Scores in Performance Horses"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7309-8542","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jessica","family":"Irving","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Violaine","family":"Pineau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Equine Sports Medicine Practice, 83 Avenue Beau S\u00e9jour, 1410 Waterloo, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7135-4880","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Susanne","family":"Shultz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK"},{"name":"Lydia Becker Institute of Immunology and Inflammation, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health, Manchester M13 9PL, UK"},{"name":"Manchester Environmental Research Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4128-5474","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fe","family":"ter Woort","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Equine Sports Medicine Practice, 83 Avenue Beau S\u00e9jour, 1410 Waterloo, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"F\u00e9licie","family":"Julien","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lambey SAS, Moulin des Pr\u00e9s, 71270 Torpes, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sandrine","family":"Lambey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lambey SAS, Moulin des Pr\u00e9s, 71270 Torpes, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9541-4983","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emmanuelle","family":"van Erck-Westergren","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Equine Sports Medicine Practice, 83 Avenue Beau S\u00e9jour, 1410 Waterloo, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e19","DOI":"10.4142\/jvs.21247","article-title":"Prevalence and treatment of gastric ulcers in Thoroughbred racehorses of Korea","volume":"23","author":"Hwang","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. 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