This episode of VETchat by The Webinar Vet is hosted by Suzanne Jarvis, editor-in-chief of Vet Record. It is part of Vet Record’s series exploring the role of the microbiome in companion animal health and disease, sponsored by Protexin Veterinary. Joining Suzanne is Ruth Gostelow, Senior Lecturer at The Royal Veterinary College.

In this episode, Ruth chats to us about how the microbiome might be acting in relation to diabetes, and also how this could interplay with satiety and obesity. She explains that the microbiome isn’t just about ‘who’ is there in relation to microbial populations, but also ‘what they are doing’ through functional genes. Research is in its early stages but once again short chain fatty acids seem to have a key role, and metabolomic studies have promise as a way of finding out differences between animals when it comes to what is going on in there. More work around glucose homeostasis and obesity could, in her view, eventually translate into treatments that are targeting the microbiome.

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