20.500.12556/RUL-181987 Assessment of fecal microbiota in healthy dogs and dogs with cutaneous mast cell tumors treated with electrochemotherapy combined with gene electrotransfer of IL-12 Cancer is a major health concern, with its incidence rate continuing to increase. There is growing interest in the microbiota and its role in carcinogenesis, as it significantly influences physiological and pathological processes. Various aspects of the microbiome have been shown to have both anti-tumor and pro-tumor effects. Advances in techniques such as high-throughput DNA sequencing have greatly improved our understanding of microbial populations in the human and canine gut. We aimed to (1) characterize the intestinal microbiota of healthy dogs and dogs with cutaneous mast cell tumors (MCTs), (2) assess changes in the intestinal microbiota of dogs undergoing electrochemotherapy (ECT) combined with gene electrotransfer (GET) of the IL-12 plasmid (IL-12), and (3) explore possible associations with the expression of immune markers Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), and Granzyme B (GZMB) in MCT tissue. Stool samples were collected from healthy dogs (n = 24) and dogs with MCTs (n = 24) before and after ECT and IL-12 GET. DNA was extracted from the samples, and shallow shotgun sequencing was performed. Immunohistochemistry was performed on the tumors to assess the expression of PD-1, PD-L1, and GZMB. The dysbiosis index, alpha diversity, and beta diversity did not differ between groups. Regarding microbial composition, Bifidobacterium animalis, Corynebacterium variabile, Lactobacillus johnsonii, Pediococcus pentosaceus, Streptococcus anginosus, Streptococcus equinus, Streptococcus intermedius, Clostridium thermobutyricum, Megasphaera elsdenii, and Anaerobiospirillum sp. were found in lower relative abundance in feces of dogs with MCTs, while Bacteroides togonis, Lactobacillus amylolyticus, Prevotella sp. CAG:279, and Megamonas hypermegale were more abundant compared to healthy dogs. Our study provides further insight into the composition of the gut microbiota in dogs with MCTs, where ECT and IL-12 GET did not lead to major shifts. We were unable to establish any association between the expression of immune markers and the microbiota. MCT canine microbiome electrochemotherapy gene electrotransfer dysbiosis index shallow shotgun sequencing metagenomics MCT pasji mikrobiom elektrokemoterapija genski elektrotransfer indeks disbioze plitvo shotgun sekvenciranje metagenomika true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2026-04-22 04:28:11 2026-04-22 14:07:44 2026-04-23 04:26:22 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 26 str. iss. 3, art. 241 Vol. 13 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno apc 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 636.7:616-006:579.8:615.849 2306-7381 10.3390/vetsci13030241 275960323 Assessment-Lisjak_Anja.pdf Assessment-Lisjak_Anja.pdf 1 B2FE211602828F33746F45C4CBB35EAF 13d0e6ef4f34468daaeaac9857c69aed92acdfd12ded8161d668fe720e6b30b3 8caab768-3e43-11f1-b0ab-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=232927 https://www.mdpi.com/2306-7381/13/3/241 1 b0381dc6-3df2-11f1-b0ab-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=232841 Veterinarska fakulteta 0 0 0